


Drowning It Out

by fandomlicious



Series: Hybridverse [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Drunken Confessions, F/M, Five Year Mission, M/M, Oblivious Spock, Other relationship developments, Self Destructive Kirk, Slow Burn Spirk, Spirk Focus, Spoilers (duh), Uhura is reasonably upset, set after Star Trek Into Darkness, yes there is an OC character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:15:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3391403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlicious/pseuds/fandomlicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a fight with her Vulcan boyfriend, Uhura was enjoying a drinking session with her captain when, in his drunken state, Kirk inadvertently blurts out a huge secret, which he never remembers telling her once he's sober. Uhura is left to deal with the ramifications of knowing this secret which threatens to tear herself apart, along with the relationship she is desperately trying to salvage. </p><p>At the same time, Septhera is suspicious about the secret Uhura is hiding, but is wary of hurting her friend/brother's girlfriend in the process of discovering said secret. But with Kirk's behaviour becoming more self-destructive by the day, it is a matter of time before something disastrous happens as a result...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Confessions of the Inebriated

**Author's Note:**

  * For [varlovian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/varlovian/gifts).



> Hello, welcome to my first ever Star Trek fic! Woo-hoo!
> 
> I started writing this AGES ago for a friend who loves Star Trek and is the reason I got into it. She doesn't like OCs personally but she loved my Star Trek one so it makes me pretty confident to start posting it. 
> 
> OK, recap - set about 6 months after the five-year mission began, my OC Septhera is Spock's sister, she is also a human-Vulcan hybrid (before people go up in arms about Spock being a genetic anomaly, there is an explanation which will be revealed in a later story). She is also Chief Security Officer and she has special talents as a result of an accident when she was younger, which results in her being unable to access her telepathic abilities and she is more open with her emotions because she has always felt a need to be more human, despite bullying on Vulcan - basically, while Spock tries to be completely Vulcan, she tries to be more human, but never fully quite works.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy

 

Uhura threw back her shot like it was water and placed it back on the bench, punching into the replicator for her next shot of vodka. She had gone through her shift today after having a row with her Vulcan boyfriend, which really consisted of him attempting to make logic of her issue and her getting even more infuriated with him. So after she finally got to retire from the bridge after shift, Uhura decided to do the one thing that knew would help: having a drink alone while the cafeteria was still empty before the next food shift.  
  
“Well, doesn’t this take me back?”  
  
Uhura resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she looked over her shoulder to see her ever-cheerful captain standing in the doorway. As he walked forward into the deserted cafeteria, the door sliding shut behind him, she smiled at him sardonically and turned back to the replicator, pulling out her new drink.  
  
“Nice to see you in here, Captain.” Uhura greeted him before knocking back her shot.  
  
“You know, when we met, I was the one who was drinking and you were the one who just walked in, ready to get drunk.” Kirk grinned as he leaned against the bench, eyeing her closely.  
  
“I was until you decided to start a bar fight.”  
  
“Ah, well. That was a good fight.” Kirk smiled to himself at the memory before typing into the replicator and paused, waiting for his order, “So, what’s got you this worked up?”  
  
“You’re the clever one. You tell me.”  
  
“Spock?”  
  
“Spock.”  
  
The replicator beeped. Kirk pulled out a drink – Uhura thought that it might be whiskey – and gestured to the seat next to her, “Mind if I join you?”  
  
Uhura looked from the seat to Kirk before shrugging, “Sure, go for it.”  
  
Kirk sat himself down, getting himself comfortable next to her before taking a drink from his whiskey, “So, what did he do now?”  
  
Uhura sighed dramatically, “Oh, the usual. I want to talk, he wants to be logical and then I get pissed off.”  
   
“Sounds familiar.” Kirk nodded, now looking a little more solemn, “Want another drink?”

  
 “Sure.”

  
Type in. Replicator beeps. Uhura has a new drink in her hand.

  
“Soooooooo, what were you arguing about?”

  
Uhura sculled her drink before she began, “I thought that Spock would have stopped with his showing-no-emotion-at-all after the whole business with Nibiru and then Khan. But it just seems like he has gotten worse.”

  
Kirk shrugged, “Well, Spock is Spock. I think he would rather cut off his arm than smile.”

  
Uhura couldn’t help it. She giggled. Kirk grinned at her and offered his whiskey glass to her. She picked up her shot glass and clinked it against his, “Bottoms up.”

  
“Couldn’t have said it better.” Kirk grinned, sculling the rest of his beverage, “Oh, dear. All gone. Time for another.”

  
“You sure have been drinking a lot lately.” Uhura pointed out, “I mean, the Christmas party...”

  
Kirk sniggered, “That was fun! Bones sure wasn’t happy when I used his shoes as a puke bucket though.”

  
Uhura smiled to herself slightly at the memory. Kirk nodded, “Remember what Spock said? ‘Captain, I believe it would be logical to refrain from consuming any more alcoholic beverage before you lose control completely.’ Ha! Lose control... I was fine!”

  
“To be fair, at that point, you had put the Santa hat on Chekov, sat in his lap and told him you wanted a puppy for Christmas.”

  
“See? Fine! Spock is just a spoilsport!”

  
The alcohol swirling around in Uhura’s bloodstream encouraged her to agree with him. She wasn’t fighting. She indicated to the replicator, “Hey, drinks on me?”

  
Kirk grinned, “Alright, but I get the next round.”

  
At this encouragement, the banks of the booze dam broke and flowed freely between them. Uhura got to the point where she could feel the alcohol making her thinking a little hazy before stopping. She could hold her liquor, but she was also smart and wasn’t going to emerge from a deserted cafeteria giggling and stumbling like a loon. They’d think she was an alcoholic, a stain on her image that she wasn’t prepared to risk.

  
As for the captain, he had lost all inhibitions somewhere between his second and seventh whiskey.

  
“I- I will say this for your boyfriend- he- he has resilience.” Kirk slurred after he finished his latest drink, “I mean, the amount of _effort_ it takes to be completely emotionless must be exhausting. I mean, he does have emotions. You’ve seen them; I’ve sort of seen them. But he just – he always hides them and that just must be – _hic!_ – so hard.”

  
“I don’t know. Seems pretty easy for him.” Even with the alcohol, Uhura was surprised at the bitterness in her tone at that.

  
Kirk laughed, “It is illogical to be so angry, young one.”

  
“I will hit you with this shot glass.”

  
That just made Kirk laugh harder. After a minute, he took a breath and sighed a little, “I wonder how annoyed he’d be if he saw this.”

  
Uhura shrugged. The alcohol mixed with her anger was dulling her ability to care.

  
“I mean, the guy can’t help not showing his emotions. He is part Vulcan. I mean, you’ve seen his dad. I wouldn’t exactly give him the award for Father of the Year.”

  
She found herself nodding along, a feeling of guilt washing over her as she thought about it. Sarek was definitely a true Vulcan through and through. She had been surprised when Spock told her that he had admitted to actually loving Spock’s mother.

  
“Also – _hic!_ – you have to admit. His logic is useful sometimes. I mean, that trick with the torpedoes – that was amazing.”

  
Uhura smiled to herself as she thought about how strong he had been at that moment. He had really been fantastic right then. She had wanted to kiss him senseless for just how brilliant he had been.

  
“And _you_ – he had to have done something right!” Kirk hiccupped again, “He got your attention! He snagged you!”

  
Uhura looked down at her hands as she thought about this. Spock had been her instructor at the academy but had also been the only one who didn’t view her as just another female in a short dress. He had seen her for the talented xenolinguist that she was and given her a chance. That had been one of the things that had made her fall for him.

  
“Also, he's got a really nice ass.”

  
Uhura outright laughed at that. Kirk was very drunk – but she couldn’t deny it.

  
“I mean, come on. I’d love to squeeze that little toochie. And those long arms and... _hic_... sinewy shoulders... I mean, he is so thin but man, he is _strong_... such a strong- _hic_ – grip... and those lips... how they must taste...”

  
Her laughter froze in her throat. As Kirk continued to describe Spock’s body in such detail, Uhura felt her good humour slipping away. She turned and stared at her captain. Kirk’s eyes were glazed over a little. He was mentally far, far away in the privacy of his own fantasies, which his out-of-control tongue was continuing to describe, to Uhura’s growing shock.

  
“And those eyes…Yeah... he is so...freaking... beautiful...amazing...” Kirk was starting to get dozy, laying his head on the bench and getting ready to pass out, “God, I... I...”

  
_Don’t say it. Please don’t_ , Uhura silently pleaded, her rising horror quickly sobering her up.

  
“...I love that Vulcan bastard.”

  
With that, Kirk nodded off and Uhura was left alone, surrounded by empty glasses and unable to speak or feel. Everything was numb. Uhura felt dizzy, like the room was spinning. Kirk was _in love_ with Spock _._ The captain was in love with __her__ boyfriend. She put her head in her hands. No. No. Why did this shit have to happen to her?

  
The effect of the alcohol was starting to fizzle out and she started to think properly again. Alright, what was she going to do? What could she do? She couldn’t leave Kirk here. If he woke up, he would remember what he did, what he said. No, Uhura decided, that was another conversation she didn’t want to deal with. Especially not right after this. She needed to get Kirk to his room, with perhaps half the whiskey glasses. Make it look like he had gotten drunk alone and passed out in his quarters. She mentally sized up the captain and just knew that there was no way she could carry him back alone.

  
McCoy was doing double shifts – there had been a particular bad accident in Engineering which had four of them in Sick Bay and Scotty working double time to fix the piping of the ship. Even Carol had been forced to help out. Chekov and Sulu together could do it, but they were both on duty. Besides, they’d ask questions. Spock was a hell no. That left only one person who could help her. Uhura pulled out her Communicator and dialled a private line.

  
“Septhera. Uhura calling Septhera.” Uhura spoke in Vulcan, in case anyone overheard.

  
There was some static before there was a reply, “ _Septhera here. Is there a problem, Uhura?”_

  
“Can you please meet me at the cafeteria? I need some assistance getting the captain to his quarters.”

  
“ _Drunk?”_

  
“Very.”

  
_“Be there soon.”_

  
   
*****************************

  
  
Septhera pushed back a strain of her chocolate brown hair behind a pointed ear and held tight onto Kirk’s shoulders while Uhura guided the legs, “I still do not quite understand why the captain was drinking in the cafeteria. He has told me he usually partakes in such leisures in the privacy of his quarters.”

  
Uhura shrugged, attempting to remain nonchalant, “I don’t know. Maybe he ran out of booze.”

  
Septhera eyed her suspiciously but quickly changed the subject, “Shhh, wait.”

  
They froze and pushed themselves close up against the wall. Uhura peered around the corner and watched a couple of Engineering reds walk past, in talks about the accident. Uhura still wasn’t sure how Septhera was able to see people coming without looking but, right now, she wasn’t complaining. After the pair passed, Septhera led them around the corner and straight to the door of Kirk’s cabin. It was then that Uhura realised that she didn’t know the code.

  
“How the hell are we going to get in?” Uhura hissed, attempting to look over her shoulder while still holding up Kirk’s legs. The dozing captain suddenly let out a loud snort, making them both freeze. When it was clear that he remained unconscious, Septhera shifted the weight of his body to free one arm and punched a collection of numbers into the keypad. The door slid open miraculously.

  
Uhura stared at her. Septhera shrugged, “Security override. Let’s go.”

  
They quickly carried the captain into his room, letting the door close behind them, and unceremoniously dumped him on his bed. Uhura’s arms screamed with relief when they were reprieved of his weight. Septhera went about turning him on his back while Uhura pulled out the glasses he had used and placed them on his coffee table. When she was done, she looked up to see Septhera watching her, a curious expression on her face.

  
“Can we go?” Uhura inquired

  
Septhera nodded, “He seems fine. I’ll inform the doctor of his condition just to keep an eye out for him but, aside from that, he shall just suffer from the complimentary headache tomorrow.”

  
_Yeah, I will too,_ Uhura thought soberly to herself. She pinched the bridge of her nose. All she wanted to do right now was go back to her cabin and just sleep. But after this, Uhura knew that there was no way that was a possibility.

  
“Nyota?” Uhura moved her hand to see Septhera’s curiosity had turned into concern, “Are you alright?”

  
Uhura nodded quickly, “Oh, yes. I’m fine. I, um – I just wanted to thank you. It was almost dinner shift and I don’t think the crew should see their captain like that.”

  
Septhera shrugged, “It’s understandable. Do you want to go to your quarters?”

  
“That would be lovely.”

  
As they left the room, Septhera made a quick Communicator call to Dr McCoy.

  
“ _McCoy here. What is it, Thera?”_

  
“Just wished to inform you that the captain is incapacitated and will perhaps feel side effects of such incapacitation in the morning.”

  
_“Drunk?”_

  
“Extremely.”

  
They both heard McCoy groan, “ _That’s just what I need... Thanks, Septhera. I’ll check on him later.”_

  
“Yes, Doctor. Also, may I remind you that your shift ends in an hour when Gamma Shift begins and I think it would be wise for you to retire to your quarters said after?”

  
“Yes, yes. Thank you, Thera. McCoy out.”

  
Septhera put away her Communicator and, with that, the two women walked towards Uhura’s quarters in silence. After a few awkward moments, Septhera cleared her throat and began, “Would you like to discuss how you came to find Kirk in such a way?”

  
“Not really, Thera.”

  
“Alright then.”

  
Uhura internally sighed to herself. If there was one thing she could count Septhera on, it was not asking questions. But another thing she could count on was her figuring things out – and quite fast too. She needed to act natural and throw her off the scent.

  
“After my shift, I decided to go grab a quick snack and then go back to my cabin.” Uhura explained suddenly, “I found the captain when I reached the cafeteria and he was already partly drunk then.”

  
“So you decided to join him?”

  
Uhura stared at her. Septhera pointed at her nose, “I apologise if I seem offensive, but you do smell quite heavily of hypervodka.”

  
Uhura made a mental note to have a shower the moment she got into her cabin. She shook her head, “Well, I had a couple, but he had already had a lot. When he passed out, I wasn’t sure how to get him out so I decided to ask for help.”

  
“Why didn’t you ask Spock? He’s been relieved at the moment.”

  
Uhura stiffened a little as she spoke, “No! I, um – I couldn’t. Not after this morning.”

  
“Oh, yes. You two had that argument. Well, that is... fair enough.” Uhura noticed Septhera’s active avoidance of the word ‘logical’ and mentally thanked her for it, “Well, here is your rooms.”

  
Uhura looked at her door, momentarily startled. She hadn’t realised that they had arrived. Uhura forced a smile at Septhera and nodded, “Oh, yes. Right. Thank you.”

  
Before Uhura could put in her code, Septhera put her hand on her arm gently. Uhura stopped and looked at her.

  
“If you need to confide anything... I am willing to listen, Nyota.”

  
Uhura willed herself to not tear up and nodded, “Thank you, Septhera. But I am fine.”

  
With that, Septhera nodded and walked away. Uhura immediately entered her room, locked the door behind her, stripped down and went for a long shower. As she stood there, all Uhura could see was Kirk’s face as he described Spock’s sinewy shoulders and long fingers, how his eyes were busy watching the fantasy of his mind’s eyes where he was touching and caressing the man she loved...

  
Anger boiled up inside her. Her hand curled into a fist, wanting to lash out at something. Not Spock. Not her man. The man drove her insane, made her want to tear her hair out and scream but, in the end, he was _her_ man. _Hers_.

  
She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. _Relax, girl,_ she told herself, _Kirk isn’t actively trying to steal your man. He just got drunk and told you that he had a nice ass… and shoulders… and eyes… and said that he loved him…_

  
“Nyota?”

  
Uhura turned off the shower. She didn’t bother to cover herself as she stepped out of the bathroom and into the main room. Spock stood there, his back to her as he looked around the room. He had seen her dress in a crumpled heap on the floor and paused to look at it. When he felt Nyota’s stare on the back of his neck, he turned around and stopped. His normally neutral eyes widened as he stared at her.

  
“Nyota?”

  
Uhura stormed forward, grabbed her boyfriend by the scruff of his blue uniform shirt and threw him on the bed, quick to straddle him and fiercely cover her mouth with his. At first startled by this sudden behaviour, Spock suddenly melted into the kisses, which soon became faster, hotter, longer as Uhura ensured that Spock was quickly devoid of clothing. They were in the throes of passion for what felt like hours until they both collapsed, unable to take anymore, even with Spock’s Vulcan constitution. But as Spock’s laboured breathing eventually paced out into the gentle breaths of sleep, Uhura remained clutching the sheets close as the worry in her chest ate away at her.

  
***********************

  
When Spock awoke, Uhura was gone. He was left, still rather stunned and curious about the events of less than eight hours ago. He had argued with Uhura before shift. She had refused to speak to him throughout it. When he was relieved, he had been unable to find her for two hours and when he heard that she has returned to her quarters, he came to speak to her.

  
Was it normal for humans to have such vivacious sexual intercourse after loud verbal disagreements?

  
Getting dressed and leaving the quarters, Spock pondered this. He decided it would be best to consult the captain on his matter. He, after all, seemed to be the most knowledgeable on the ship when it came to making women angry and sexual intercourse. On his way to the bridge, he took the turn which led to the captain’s quarters and was surprised to see McCoy standing out the front, scolding Jim, who looked quite unhealthy of skin complexion and eye colour, the bloodshot red clashing with the bright blue irises.

  
“This is what you get for drinking eight whiskeys in the space of an hour. Goddammit, Jim, you’re smarter than that. You know you were very close to getting alcohol poisoning, right?” McCoy snapped

  
Jim waved his hand at him like he was shooing a fly, “Hey, hey, not so loud. Anyway, very close isn’t exactly, is it, Bones?”

  
At that moment, Jim turned and saw Spock approaching, “Oh, hey, Spock. Please don’t speak too loud. My ears are very sensitive this morning.”

  
“What possible ailment has struck you, captain?” Spock inquired

  
“It’s called the hangover. It’s a common illness contracted by idiots who drink too much alcohol at once instead of spacing it out and making more trouble for their chief medical officer, who has to make sure he is up for duty this morning.” McCoy grumbled, “We are landing on a planet today, Jim! You can’t just go and get blindly drunk the night before!”

  
“I know, I know. Shhh!” Jim put his finger to his lips gingerly, “Listen… I will still go. You’ll be with me, right, Bones? You’ll keep an eye on me.”

  
“I should throw you out of an airlock in your underwear.”

  
“See, knew I could count on you!” Jim then turned to Spock, “And Spock will be with me. And we’ll take Uhura and a couple of security too! We’ll be good!”

  
“I do not think it would be wise to bring the lieutenant on the planet-side mission, captain.”

  
Both Jim and McCoy stared at Spock intently. McCoy looked inquisitive, “Why not?”

  
“Lieutenant Uhura and I have been experiencing some difficulties with our relationship and I think it could compromise the mission to have both of us on a landing team together” Spock paused, “Is it normal for a woman to be infuriated with her prospective partner and then still participate in highly vigorous sexual intercourse with them?”

  
McCoy frowned, “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  
“Did you catch the captain’s ailment, doctor?”

  
“I think I may have to.”

  
Kirk was still staring at Spock, “Uhura had angry sex with you?”

  
“Angry sex, captain?” Spock raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

  
Kirk put his arm on Spock’s shoulder, “Come, Spock. It is time I part some of my worldly wisdom onto you – as long as you keep your questions quiet.”

  
“Oh, for God’s sake.” McCoy muttered as he trailed behind them.

  
“Now, Spock – angry sex is the best kind of sex you can have during a fight. The only better kind of sex is make up sex, when the fight is all done –” Kirk began, ready to launch into a long lecture.

  
“But I am inquiring simply because Uhura has never demonstrated this kind of behaviour before. We have quarrelled in the past but she simply refuses to instigate any form of communication with me and then I apologise.” Spock explained.

  
“Sounds about right.” McCoy commented bitterly.

  
Kirk waved his hand in the dismissive manner once more, “Ignore him. Look, I don’t know why Uhura is mad at you. I don’t even remember getting drunk last night so right now is a bad time to ask why a woman is mad. But... I can say this. Do not try to make sense of it. It will make her madder and make your Vulcan head hurt.”

  
Spock raised an eyebrow, “Alright, Captain.”

  
McCoy suddenly stepped forward, his expression indicating his weariness with the conversation topic, “Look, Spock, try just talking to her. Sure, it may cause another fight but that is what couples do – they fight. Just find her and go make up.”

  
Kirk then looked at his watch quickly, “BUT not until after the mission, which begins in T-30 minutes. Alright, Spock, we’ll leave Uhura on board. We can take Seppy instead.”

  
“I do hope you are aware how intensely my sister dislikes that name, Captain.”

  
“Oh, I am.” Kirk smiled and slapped both McCoy and Spock on the arm in a friendly manner, “Let’s go!”

  
As Kirk strolled off towards the bridge, McCoy and Spock met eyes. Spock opened his mouth to enquire to the captain’s behaviour. However, the doctor threw up his hands, “Don't ask.”

  
As Spock and McCoy headed towards the bridge, Spock’s excellent hearing swore he heard Dr McCoy muttering under his breath, “Goddammit, I’m a doctor, not a babysitter.” 


	2. Actions and Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The planet side mission is happening, but Uhura's been re-assigned from the mission. How will she handle the news? Meanwhile, Septhera is becoming increasingly suspicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying this. I have about seven or eight chapters already written, I just need to edit them heavily.

“ _Captain to Seppy. Come in, Seppy!_ ”

As the communicator buzzed on her bedside table, Septhera’s eyes reluctantly opened. She contemplated throwing it at the wall but decided against it as it would cost precious time to repair the damage – from what Scotty had previously informed her, she had quite a strong arm – and she sat up, glaring at her communicator clearly through the darkness of her quarters as she picked it up and answered it.

 “You may be the captain, but continue to refer to me as Seppy and I will stun you with my phaser and use your body to demonstrate to the new cadets how many ways I can make somebody bleed without killing them.”

“ _Geez, you really aren’t a morning person_.” Kirk commented, “ _Listen, you are doing the landing mission this morning. Meet us in the teleporter room in 15 minutes._ ”

It was only her Vulcan training which was able to refrain Septhera from groaning. It meant she needed her protective gloves, her off-world contacts and hearing aids, “Forgive my impudence, captain, but I thought that Lieutenant Uhura, the doctor and my brother were assigned to that mission.”

“ _Yes, but it has been unanimously decided that Uhura should remain on the ship, as her... issues with Spock may emotionally compromise the mission._ ”

Septhera looked at her communicator sceptically, grabbing her black undershirt and pants out of her trunk as she spoke, “Since when has being emotionally compromised caused you personal grievance before?”

 _“...Fair point. But still, as there is possibly a new civilisation on the planet, I don’t want the natives’ first impression of Starfleet being a woman killing her boyfriend after he said ‘logical’ one too many times._ ”

Septhera paused halfway putting on her pants. Of course, everyone knew about Uhura and Spock’s fight – it wasn’t exactly an irregular occurrence. But only she had been aware that the word ‘logical’ was a trigger point for Uhura now after Spock told her that her emotions were illogical – she had been the only one who had heard the argument besides the couple themselves. One of the advances of having extremely sensitive hearing – she could hear Uhura shouting for logic to ‘go to hell’ from two corridors away with her aids on. So how was Kirk aware of it when he was three floors down at the time?

“ _Septhera, are you still there?”_

“Very much so, Captain.” Septhera replied, now finished clothing herself in her undergarments, “I will meet you in the teleportation room in ten minutes. I assume that Lieutenant Uhura has been made aware of this change in plans, sir?”

_“…Um….”_

“Would you like to me to inform her, Jim?”

“ _Oh, really? Thank you so much. See you later, bye!”_ And with that, the captain ended his call.

Septhera rolled her eyes as she pulled out her usual sleeveless red uniform shirt, looked at it for a second, shook her head and put it back in her trunk, pulling out her generic black Starfleet uniform shirt. As she put in on, she muttered under her breath, “Coward.”

With that said, Septhera grabbed her katana sheath, slung it onto her back and set her phaser to stun. After the mood that Uhura has been in, she wasn’t taking any chances. She put in her light sensitive contacts, set her hearing aid for moderately deaf, reducing her hearing sensitivity to a 50 feet radius and went to the velveteen covered box on her desk, containing her three primary glove types. After finally putting on her heaviest pair, she turned to her black stealth uniform hanging on the wall next to her door.

Time to get to work.

***********************

The Romulan dialects passed through Uhura’s head, going in one ear and out the other. Translating random languages often helped distract her if there was something on her mind but this was to no avail. She couldn’t concentrate. She couldn’t focus. All she had been thinking about since she got out of bed – after giving up on her attempts to sleep – was what was going to happen when Kirk woke up. Would he remember what he said? What would he do? Uhura was so preoccupied in her head; she didn’t hear the footsteps behind her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder, swinging her chair around at lightning speed.

“Hey! Sorry!” Sulu apologised, jumping back, “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Uhura scolded herself, forcing her heart rate to calm down, “No, no. It’s OK. Just, um – did you need something?”

“No, I was just – Chekov noticed you were muttering to yourself.”

“Hey! I zaid that she looked uneazy!” Chekov called over from his chair.

“OK, _I_ noticed you were muttering.” Sulu rolled his eyes before looking at Uhura with a look of concern, “You feeling OK?”

Uhura forced a kind smile at him before nodding, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just – didn’t get much sleep during break, that’s all.”

“Are you sure? You are meant to be going down to the new planet today. Probably not a good idea if you can’t concentrate.”

The rational part in her brain agreed with him and, to be completely truthful, the idea of spending a whole day on a planet with both Spock and Kirk at the moment would be a nightmare. But Uhura couldn’t pull out of it; otherwise they would know something was up. No, she had to continue on, like there was nothing wrong. No, not like. There _was_ nothing wrong.

“I will be alright, Sulu.” Uhura reassured him, “…Thank you.”

Sulu nodded and made to return to the chair just as the door to the bridge opened. Uhura looked up as Septhera walked in. Uhura frowned – she was in her black mission gear, complete with her unfolded katana sheath. Septhera only wore those if she was going planet side or preparing for battle. But she wasn’t assigned to today’s mission. Why was she in her full kit? As she met eyes with Septhera, a cold trickle went down her back.

This wasn’t good.

“Hello, Nyota.” Septhera greeted her as she walked towards her, “How are you feeling today?”

She greeted her by her first name. This definitely wasn’t good. Uhura nodded at her, “I’m alright. How are you?”

“I am in good physical health, thank you. I – Uhura, I am afraid I have to inform you that I have been assigned to the landing party today.”

Uhura nodded slowly, “Ohhh-kaaay. Why?”

“I have been assigned to replace you.”

She froze. _What?_ Uhura stared at Septhera, to see if she was joking. Her dark green Vulcan eyes looked sad. No, she wasn’t joking. Uhura had been replaced. While one half of her was relieved that she had dodged that bullet, the rest of her mind was racing. Why had she been replaced? Did Kirk remember something? She had to know.

“Do you know the reason why?” Uhura demanded, unable to keep her shock and possibly anger out of her voice.

Septhera raised an eyebrow at her, eyeing her facial expression closely, “I was told that it was due to your current issues with Spock and the captain is under the belief that it could emotionally compromise the mission.”

 _Emotionally compromise?_ Uhura frowned. But she had made up with Spock last night. Didn’t he know that? A wave of fear washed over her. Did Kirk remember last night and was suddenly too uncomfortable to speak to her? Couldn’t he look her in the face after it? A more terrifying thought gripped her. Did he do it so he could be alone with Spock? The rational side of her finally stepped in and kicked that thought to the side. That was ridiculous. If he wanted to be alone with Spock, he didn’t need to get rid of her. No, there was another reason to all this. There _had_ to be. The cold pit in her chest dug itself deeper and she felt like throwing up.

“Uhura?” Septhera looked at her closely, “I am sorry that you had to be informed like this. But if it is any consolation, I believe that it would be better if you were up here on the comms.”

Uhura nodded slowly, only really taking in half of what Septhera was saying. Suddenly, Septhera said quite loudly, “Hikaru, Pavel, I do hope you are watching us because you have some news to tell us instead of eavesdropping.”

Uhura and Septhera both looked over at the command console to see Sulu and Chekov turning back to their consoles, Uhura swearing she caught a glimpse of a blush spreading across the young Russian’s cheeks as we swirled his chair around.

“Yez, Thera. Ze Keptan vishes for you to be present in ze teleporter room in three minutez.” Chekov rattled off quickly.

“Thank you, Pavel. Inform those waiting in the teleporter room that I shall be there shortly.” Septhera replied as she headed for the turbolift.

Uhuru made a split second decision as she watched the young half-Vulcan go and turned to the person next to her. What was his name? Romano? She really couldn’t remember at the moment, “Take over until I return.”

“Yes, Lieutenant.” He replied professionally, taking over the comms as Uhura followed Septhera to the lift. As she went, Uhura glanced over at Sulu and Chekov, who were trying to inconspicuously peer over their shoulders as they watched them enter the lift and the door close. When it did, Uhura pressed the emergency stop.

Septhera raised an eyebrow, much in a similar manner to her brother, “I think the preference of the lift is to move, Uhura.”

“Did the captain mention anything about why I was taken off the mission?”

Uhura watched Septhera’s eyes narrow in surprise and possible suspicion, “Nothing more than what I have told you.”

“OK. What about... the incident? Does he remember anything?”

The suspicion deepened in Septhera’s eyes. Uhura hated making herself so obvious but she needed to know and Septhera was the only one she could ask.

“He didn’t enlighten me of his condition but he sounded like he was attempting to be quite upbeat.”

“Attempting?”

“He called me Seppy.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. I made my opinions on that nickname quite clear.” Septhera then turned and looked at the emergency stop button, “May I please allow us to continue to our destination, as I am sure I only have two minutes to reach the teleportation room?”

Uhura looked from Septhera to the emergency stop button, a little surprised. She had almost forgotten about it, to be honest. Swallowing any more questions, she nodded and Septhera pressed the button. The turbolift continued again and the two women were left in an awkward silence. The worry in Uhura’s chest hadn’t eased at all and just conjured more questions that she wasn’t sure that she wanted the answer too.

“I shall inform you of the Captain’s condition via your communicator on a private line, if it will ease the worries on your mind. I also have been testing a new device: a camera in my insignia to record what happens so that I may file my mission reports with more accuracy. I can give you the frequency via communicator message, if you wish to be able to observe.”

Uhura turned and stared at Septhera, who didn’t meet her face. The Chief Security Lieutenant Commander continued, “I will not pry or ask questions but you will need to discuss it soon, Nyota.”

“Thank you.” Uhura nodded, sending her a tight yet grateful smile, “But it's nothing.”

The expression that Septhera wore made her look decidedly Vulcan in that moment, “Odd.”

“What?” Uhura sounded almost defensive.

At this moment, the turbolift doors opened and Septhera stepped out, turning around to face Uhura, “Something that is nothing would not eat away at a person. Only if the person believes there is merit should they worry themselves.”

Uhura stared at her. Septhera nodded at Uhura, “See you upon our return, Nyota.”

With that, the doors slid shut and she was left in the turbolift, pondering upon Septhera’s cryptic words. What did she mean? Had she figured something out? Uhura’s rational side told her that she should concern herself with this later and return to the bridge. She pressed the button for the bridge and waited.

Her stomach felt colder than ever.

***********************

“Hey, Septhera! Why are yeh so late?”

Scotty’s announcement turned Jim’s head to face the door. The young Security Chief walked in, ready in her full fighting gear with her usually loose brunette hair tied up in a practical ponytail high on her head. Jim swore up and down that the woman was a warrior born about 7 centuries late and on the wrong planet. Septhera turned and directed her response to his Head Engineer.

“I do apologise. I was met with some unavoidable distractions.” She turned to face the rest of them, walking to join them up on the teleportation pad, “Captain. Brother. Doctor McCoy.”

“Greetings, sister.” Spock nodded courteously at her

“Good to see you, Thera.” Bones greeted her.

Jim grinned at her, “Hey, Seppy!”

Her eyes narrowed at him as she took her place between him and Bones, “Must I remind you of the threat I issued less than 15 minutes ago, Jim?”

“Nope. I still quite remember.”

“I do too. I will keep it in mind.” Bones commented.

Jim rolled his eyes as Septhera gave him a half smile, “Alright, now. Scotty, when we give the order, you beam us up immediately.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” The Scotsman gave him a mock salute.

“Sulu, you have the ship wide comms and have the bridge in the absence of myself and Mr. Spock.” Jim said into his communicator.

“ _Yes, Captain.”_ Sulu replied.

“Alright, hold on to yeh hats! Startin’ teleportation progress.” Scotty announced as he and the three other people in the teleportation room started the program.

Over the hum of the computers, Jim could hear his first officer speaking to his sister, asking her in regards to the wellbeing of Uhura. Jim glanced over his shoulder to watch them. Septhera reassured him that Uhura was coping with the reassignment and that she would most likely discuss it further with him later on. Jim watched the almost minuscule downturn of the corners of Spock’s mouth and momentarily wished that he could fix it.

But he couldn’t. Not in the way Jim wanted to. Jim’s way consisted of long talks under hot sheets after showering his pale body in kisses and –

Jim gritted his teeth and averted his eyes. He couldn’t focus on stuff like that at this time. The headache that was pounding away at the rear of his skull definitely wasn’t helping matters. Whatever he had done during his break, it had been a real wipe-out on his memory. He couldn’t remember how much he had to drink or even remember reaching his quarters at the end of it all.

He also wasn’t sure why he had such an aversion to Uhura at the moment. Yeah, the woman could be scary in a good mood but he wasn’t unfamiliar to being on her bad end. He could usually handle her. But when Septhera had inquired if she had informed her of her reassignment from the landing party, a nervous feeling just started dancing around in the pit of his stomach, telling him that he really didn’t want to talk to her at the moment. He had taken the offer for Septhera to tell her the moment it had come out of her mouth and had immediately felt like he was a piece of crap.

Then there was the thing with Spock this morning. Angry sex really didn’t seem to fit Uhura’s MO. He had ignored the painful twist in his stomach at the image of Uhura taking Spock in ways that he often inappropriately thought about himself, though he would never admit it.

“Jim?”

Jim turned to see Bones eyeing him. His usual grumpy scowl was still on his face, but it had an underlying glance of concern, “You OK, Jim?”

Jim gave him a devil-may-care grin, “Yeah, Bones. Hey, Scotty, we going to get gone or what?”

“Ready to go, Captain!”

Jim turned around to double check his team. The two security officers were at the back, ready with their phasers and wearing the black shirts that Septhera had ordered them to wear as common landing uniform. Spock was staring ahead, ready for the teleportation. Bones looked like he wanted to grip onto the nearest metal bar and hold on for dear life.

Then he noticed Septhera quickly typing something into her Communicator and slipping it into her pocket discreetly. When done, she looked up and her dark green eyes met Jim’s suddenly. They stared at each other, waiting for the other to break the gaze. In the end, Septhera did it, looking forward and putting her hands on her hips, one of them on her phaser’s holster, in a fairly human gesture but with an expression which looked unusually Vulcan for the young woman.

Kirk nodded, “Energise.”

Scotty hit the button and the golden waves began circling them, accompanied by the common tingling feeling that flowed through Jim’s body. Within five seconds, their surroundings changed from the inside of the teleportation room to a dense green jungle. Mud quickly caked Jim’s boots and the humidity hit him the moment the last of the golden waves disappeared.

He turned to the rest of the party. Spock remained neutral, looking around with his usual inquisitive fascination as he took in his new environment. Jim loved observing him during this moment. His eyes practically lit up in wonder whenever he discovered something new and it made him look just so damn adorable. He glanced over at Septhera, who was assisting her security team in keeping their balance in their thick mud, before turning over at Bones.

He stared at the mud on his boots, staring around at the environment and then glared at Jim.

“I hate you so much right now.”

Jim grinned, slapping him happily on the shoulder, and turned to everyone else, “Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, kudos, etc. Hope you guys are enjoying it!


	3. Curiosity Killed the Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirk, Spock, Bones & Septhera have beamed down to the new planet. Uhura is watching them on the vidcam that Septhera gave her access to. Will she regret her decision?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guys! 80 hits in just the space of one night's sleep. May not be good for some, but that is awesome in my books :) 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy. Remember, if you know something specific about the Star Trek verse that conflicts with what is in here, please please please let me know and I will either explain myself or insert the needed knowledge. Thanks! 
> 
> Now enjoy!

The mission was about three hours in. Uhura was watching them on her screen, while everyone watched the simulation on the main screen, as they encountered a nine foot tall two-headed lizard monster which seriously injured one of the security team and nearly devoured Dr. McCoy after chasing him up a cliff face. They all had to thank Septhera’s katana for kindly finding itself pierced through one of the lizard’s heads and Kirk forcing a boulder to find the other. Chekov had almost bitten through his thumbnail while Sulu looked ready to snap the arms off the captain’s chair in fear and that was just listening to the audio. Uhura hated to have thought how she looked at the moment as she watched it all play out like she is there. 

 _“Goddammit, I’m too old for this sh-”_ Uhura listened to McCoy mutter through her comms headphone.

“ _Doctor!”_ Septhera jumped down from the lizard’s head and headed over to him, _“Did you suffer any serious injuries?”_

McCoy shook his head, _“No. No, I am alright. In a manner of speaking. Thanks”_

There was a sound like skidding on gravel. With Septhera's turn, Uhura saw Kirk sliding down the cliff face, landing on the boulder with a look of relief and almost mildly insulted, _“Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?”_

 _“No. I believe you are the primary reason that the doctor was chased by the creature and resulted in the injury of Ensign Fredrickson.”_ Septhera pointed out to him, walking over to the wounded security officer being carried by his friend, _“Septhera to Enterprise. Are you still reading us?”_

Sulu opened the comms, “Been reading you loud and clear the whole time, Septhera.”

_“We have a wounded man that needs attention. Please inform Mr Scott to beam up Ensigns Fredrickson and G’thor for immediate medical attention.”_

“Understood. Do you read that, Scotty?” Sulu asked into the comms.

“ _Loud and clear. Beaming up!_ ”

Sulu turned to Chekov as they watched the two security officers being beamed up on the screen, “Send a comm. to Medical, let them know of incoming wounded.”

“Yes, zulu.” Chekov turned to his console, bringing up a private comm. to the sick bay, “Dr M'Benga, zere are two incoming vounded officers being beamed aboard ze ship as ve speak. Do you copy?”

There was a pause before Dr M'Benga’s voice came through the comms, “ _Sending two nurses down now._ ”

Uhura could hear everything going on but was focused on her screen. Since Septhera’s message of the Captain seeming to be his usual post-drunk self, along with the vidcom access codes, she hadn’t heard anything from her since and had settled herself to hacking into Septhera’s video stream and observing them. Uhura watched them closely as they had explored the jungle, particularly focusing on Kirk and his behaviour towards Spock. For those not paying particular attention, there was very little difference in the way that Kirk and Spock interacted from how they did normally. But even now and then, Uhura would see a glaze over in Kirk’s eyes or a secret glance at Spock when nobody is looking.

Each one was an icicle stabbing into Uhura’s chest.

After the two security officers beamed away, Uhura couldn’t see anything except the corpse of the lizard creature as Septhera turned to climb back up it and retrieve her katana. But she could still hear the conversation.

_“How was I supposed to know that I was hiding behind an egg? It looked like stone and, usually, they aren’t that big!”_

_“The captain does have a logical reasoning, Doctor.”_

_“Shut up, Spock. If Kirk hadn’t decided to run off as he usually does, he wouldn’t have gone hiding behind the eggs and none of this would have started!”_

_“The doctor also speaks with sound logic, Captain.”_

_“Whose side are you on?”_

_“Haven’t I told you before that agreeing with me makes me uncomfortable? It’s damn creepy!”_

_“While I think it would be fascinating to continue listening to your endearing arguments –”_ The sarcasm was evident in Septhera’s matter-of-fact voice as Uhura watched the katana being pulled out of the lizard’s skull. The camera turned, showing McCoy, Kirk and Spock all standing in a small huddle at the feet of the corpse. McCoy and Kirk were leaned in towards each other like they’d been snapping closely at the other, looking up at Septhera as they were interrupted in their argument, while Spock observed his sister with his usual expression of neutrality, _“-I would like to point out the obvious problem that you are all missing and highly suggest that we remove ourselves from this situation immediately, preferably to the ship.”_

Kirk looked confused, _“What are you talking about?”_

There was a tang of metal, like Septhera had tapped her katana on something, probably the dead reptile's head, _“We found an egg. We were chased off by the mother of the unhatched offspring. Until we know any better, it should be safest to assume that...”_

There was suddenly a roar so loud that Uhura had to rip the headphone out of her ear, crushing her eyes together in pain. When she finally opened them and looked back to the screen, the camera was focused on the area of vines and bushes that they had been chased through by the dead creature not long ago. Even without the headphone in, Uhura could hear Kirk’s voice through them clearly.

 _“...There is a daddy lizard?”_ He guessed, sounding like he was gulping down his fear.

 _“Correct.”_ Septhera's voice sounded battle hard, _“Everyone, up the cliff now! Scotty, we need to be beamed up immediately! Scotty!”_

There was no response from Scotty. Uhura quickly turned around, minimizing the screen, “Chekov! Do you have a map simulation of their surrounding terrain?”

Chekov looked surprised at the sound of her voice, turning to look at her for a second, before looking back at the map, “Um, yez. I can bring it up, if you vish.”

“What’s wrong, Lieutenant?” Sulu demanded, the brief relief on his face now hardened into concern.

“I just received a comm. message from Commander Septhera. There's a second lizard creature and it's coming for them. They've requested beaming out, but Scotty isn't responding. They need a temporary hiding spot.”

“What?” Both Chekov and Sulu stared at her.

Uhura was starting to get impaitent, “Is there a cave or someplace they could hide?!”

Sulu turned to Chekov, “Bring up the simulation and search for suitable hiding places for them!”

“Yes, Zulu!” Chekov obliged, rapidly typing into his helm screen.

“Uhura, open up comm. lines to the Captain.” Sulu ordered, "And comms to Scotty too, so we can find out what the hell is keeping him!"

Uhura hurriedly turned back to her screen. After opening up the comms, she nodded at Sulu and reopened her screen. At first, all she could see was dirt. They were still climbing the cliff.

“The Enterprise to Captain Kirk, do you copy?” Sulu demanded into the comms.

There was pause filled with heavy breathing before Kirk suddenly spoke, “ _Kirk here. A little busy at the moment!_ ”

“Ve are aware of your zituation, keptan!” Chekov announced, still hard at work at the helm “About fiwe hundred metres into ze jungle on top of the cliff face you are currently climbing, zere iz a cave. It vill most likely be hidden by ze flora but if you can make it in zere, the creature should not be able to follow!”

“ _That sounds like a logical idea. However, we cannot be sure if there are any other native fauna or flora of malicious intent that could inhabit darkened places. We may be, in a saying familiar with humans, ‘jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire’_.” Spock informed them.

Uhura clenched her fist. Did he have to do this  _now_?!

The next response came in grunts from the doctor, _“Goddammit, Spock, we can deal with that when we get to it! Right now, I would happily walk into the home of a hibernating grizzly bear if it meant that I could avoid becoming a dinner time snack for Godzilla!”_

_“I am not sure that I understand-”_

_“Brother, we have phasers and other suitable weaponry that could handle a creature of cave-size if we happen to encounter it. While the katana was quite effective on the last creature, the phasers were not and we cannot physically carry a boulder or anything of similar size or weight with us to protect us from the next one so, if it is down to being logical at this point in time, it would be best to retreat and be prepared to fight something we can handle instead of fighting something which we could handle at the risk of casualties.”_ Septhera explained in a rapid-fire speech that, despite sounding so Vulcan, was betraying the frustration that she was feeling at that moment in time, _“So, if we may continue to- Captain, look out!”_

Uhura watched as Septhera turned and side rammed herself into Kirk. The camera watched Kirk and McCoy were sent tumbling off the side of the cliff, a cold chill went down Uhura’s spine as she saw a reptilian jaw ram itself into the side of the mountain right where they would have been. The video shook from the vibrations of the impact, while Septhera swung onto her back against the cliff face, giving the camera a full picture of what they were facing.

Uhura gasped, covering her mouth. This new creature was twice the size of the one that they have previously taken out. Each head alone looked like it could eat the boulder that had killed its mate and spit it back at the four Starfleet members in chucks which would crush them flat.

“Uhura, what’s wrong?” Sulu demanded. She turned around and looked at the rest of the bridge. They had all heard her gasp. Crap. How was she going to explain this?

She quickly decided on honesty, “Septhera has developed a new insignia which sends a video link to the ship whenever she is on a landing party mission. She gave me the frequency in case of emergency. I'll put it up on the screen.”

With a few taps, the video image came up on the screen. There were a few gasps at the reaction to the sight of the large lizard monster and, once again, Uhura found herself unable to look away. 

Sulu opened the comms, “Captain! Are you alright?"

 _“...I’m alright!_ ” Kirk suddenly gasped through the comms.

McCoy then suddenly interrupted, “ _Like hell you are! The captain has a possible broken collarbone and requires medical attention aboard the ship. You need to beam us the hell out of here now!_ ”

“ _Holy crap! Now that is a very big beastie!_ ” Everyone could hear Scotty exclaiming through the comm. line. Uhura looked back at her console and realised that, in her haste, she had sent it to every video channel on the ship, “ _What the hell is happening down there?_ ”

"Scotty! Where ze hell hawe you been? You need to get zem out of zere!" Chekov demanded, his voice uncharacteristically angry.

“ _Septhera!”_ Spock is suddenly heard shouting.

They watched as the video zoomed into the lizard. Uhura’s blood ran cold as she realised that Septhera had essentially leapt off the cliff side to the giant lizard. They all watched helplessly as she landed on its arm, dangling there momentarily before the camera swung up. Suddenly, they were watching Septhera's hand latch onto the lizard’s back. As her grip on its hide seemed to hold, there was a smattering of small relief. When she skidded and the video turned sideways, nearly everyone leapt out of their chair. The suspense in the air was so thick that if you cut it with a knife, the knife would be sliced in half.

“Zepthera! Are you alright?” Chekov demanded into the comms, the worry in his voice thickening his accent.

There was a breath as the video suddenly returned to being vertical and turned around to face the cliff face. Uhura’s stomach dropped as she saw Spock still hanging on. He was looking over his shoulder, a mild neutral surprise across his face as he watched Septhera.

 _“Septhera, what the hell do you think are doing?!”_ McCoy’s voice was heard through the video.

Jim’s voice was heard as well _“Are you alrig- AH!”_

The video suddenly surged forward, making Septhera look up at the back of the two heads, followed by a roar. The lizard had turned its attention to Kirk and McCoy, who were presumably at its feet somewhere.

“ _Captain! Doctor!”_  , The bridge watch the video shake as she attempted to stand up.

 _“Septhera! Stab the thing and let’s get out of here!”_ McCoy shouted at her.

The video froze. Suddenly, Uhura heard an edge of panic in Septhera’s voice, one that she wasn't familiar with.

_“My katana... It must have slipped off when I landed on the creature!”_

_“DO SOMETHING!”_ Kirk screamed out.

“Scotty! Beam them out of there!” Sulu began shouting into the comms, suddenly remembering that he could do something. This was one of the reasons why Uhura hated being on ship during landing missions. It left her feeling like she was helpless if something went wrong.

And something always went wrong.

“ _Sulu, I cannae do anything_!” Scotty shouted back, “ _Something's gone wrong with the transporter! It won't let me compensate for the_ _density of the jungle and the screens keep freezing. If aye even tried right now, it could split them in 'alf! With Septhera, we could get that nasty bastard with her!_ ”

Suddenly, they saw Septhera’s phaser come flying out of the side of the video, smashing against one of the lizard’s heads. At that, they both turned them, doing complete 180s to stare at the perpetrator.

 _“So they can turn their heads in true 180 degree fashion. Interesting_.” They heard Septhera mutter to herself as the two lizard heads reached forward to snap at her. The video, after that, was very unreliable - a lot of shaking and blurred images. Sulu was demanding that Scotty find a way to beam them up while Chekov, the child prodigy who usually could figure out an answer for almost anything, was stunned and just entranced in fear by the screen. Uhura then remembered that Chekov had never been on a landing party mission before.

The poor boy must be scarred for life.

Suddenly, there was a loud battle cry and a following roar. The video stood still long enough as one of the lizard heads suddenly still and fell forward. On top of the head, with Septhera’s katana pierced through the middle of its eyes, was Spock. Uhura was stunned at how murderous the Vulcan looked. The video shook as Septhera ran forward.

 _“Jump back!”_ She shouted at her brother.

Spock raised an eyebrow and turned left to see the other still very much alive lizard head glaring at him with deadly intent. He threw himself off the lizard as the other head’s jaw snapped at him, leaving the sword stuck in the dead head.

Uhura realised she was holding her breath and let it release. Everyone watched as Septhera’s hand shot out and pulled the sword out of the skull like pulling out a toothpick. The general atmosphere of dread surrounded everyone on the bridge – and most likely the whole ship – as Septhera turned to look at the other lizard head, facing it straight on.

 _“What the hell is she doing?!”_ Scotty demanded over the airwaves, never the quiet commentator. Uhura would have smiled if she wasn’t so scared out of her mind.

The fear was then replaced with nausea as Septhera leapt the large jaws of the beast, planted her feet firmly on its head and stabbed it right through the eye.

What happened next, they saw the video freeze, the focus still on the stabbed eye. A roar echoed through the sound system so loudly that everyone on the bridge covered their ears. Uhura feared it would blow out the comm. system. Then the video suddenly dropped as the lizard’s corpse fell straight down. Uhura guessed that was at least 12 feet. Septhera landed face down, clutched the lizard’s head as she fell because when the video was still again, all they could see was lizard hide.

The video was still for a little while.

McCoy’s voice was the first heard, “ _Thera, are you alright? Thera, answer me!”_

Then there was the doubt in Kirk’s, _“...Septhera?”_

No answer. Fear gripped at Uhura’s heart, threatening to squeeze it until it burst. After a moment, there was movement of the camera and cough.

“ _I’m- I am in... operational physical and mental health.”_ Septhera turned to face everyone. Spock was half leaning against the cliff while McCoy and Kirk were on the other side of a boulder right next to it, with a tree trunk on top, peering out of the side.

McCoy let out a small sigh of relief before he adopted his usual scowl, _“Are you insane?! You could’ve gotten yourself killed! Do you Vulcans have any common sense?”_

Kirk let out a breathless laugh and patted McCoy on the shoulder, his other being held against his chest, _“Remember, McCoy, they are half human.”_

“ _That’s no excuse, dammit!”_

Spock looked at Septhera curiously, “ _Are you quite certain that you are of adequate physical health?”_

 _“The terminology I used was operational, not adequate, brother. I’ll be fine after we all get checked out at the ship.”_ Septhera turned around and pulled out her katana. Uhura was fairly sure she saw Chekov going green as well that time.

Septhera went to get up and that’s when the video fell. Uhura gasped, Sulu and Chekov leapt out of their chairs.

“Thera, are you alright?” Sulu spoke to them through the comms.

 _“...Yes.”_ She paused as McCoy and Spock both came into the video, “ _I was not aware that the fall had affected my right foot. Possible fracture.”_

“ _I’ll be the judge of that, thank you very much!”_ McCoy snapped grumpily, “ _Spock, help me get her to the cliff. Let her lean against it.”_

Uhura sighed and made a vow to never watch any of Septhera’s landing videos again. She'll tell her to change the frequency in case anyone else on the ship decided to watch them. Seeing her friends being attacked, her boyfriend almost killed – it wasn’t going to make it easier for her to sleep at night.

Though, she had to admit – Spock did look rather dashing with the katana in hand. She made a mental note of that.

The sound of the roar made everyone jump out of their skin. The video shook as Septhera, Spock and McCoy leapt out of the way as the lizard – which was somehow still very much alive – lunged forward with a claw and swiped at Kirk, sending him flying back into the wall. Kirk’s loud shout of pain was heard on Septhera’s video and the comms.

“Keptan!” Chekov shouted

“Sir!” Sulu said at the same time.

Uhura covered her mouth. Two feelings filled her up at the same time. One was absolute terror. But the other was fleeting, only for a second, but it was enough to turn into horror. A feeling of guilt and self-disgust filled her up. Uhura felt sick for a second as she watched the lizard’s head slowly get closer to the captain, completely unable to fight back.

There was a flash of light reflecting off metal as the katana came out of the side of the video and pierced the lizard again – this time through the neck. When it finally fell down, almost completely decapitated, they watched for a minute to make sure it stayed down. The bridge then erupted into cheers. Uhura released a sigh but the sickening feeling didn’t leave her, haunting the back of her mind as she attempted to force it away.

“Well done, Septhera. I don’t think I could have made a shot like that in your condition.” Sulu congratulated her through the comms.

“ _Aye, lass. That was just brilliant! I should buy you a pint to celebrate!_ ” Scotty joined in, the engineer sounding very merry.

There was a pause before Septhera replied, “ _My fighting arm has been around the doctor’s shoulder the entire time._ ”

There was a couple of seconds before Septhera’s response sunk in. But then...

“ _Captain.”_

Septhera turned, the video as well, to see Spock rushing over to Kirk’s side, checking his head to make sure he wasn’t too injured. Even from the distance, Uhura could see the glazed over look in Kirk’s eyes and that stupid grin. Anger swelled in her chest, the cold pit now deeper than it was before.

But then her stomach decided to go and jump right in it. Spock put his hand on Jim’s cheek to make him look at the Vulcan and gave him a look. No one else had seen it. No one else could – to most people; Spock was wearing his neutral expression. Only Uhura could recognise it. She recognised the admiration in her boyfriend’s eyes as Kirk looked up at him with his smile and patted him on the shoulder.

“ _Captain, are you alright?_ ”

Jim grinned at him, that stupid grin, and nodded, “ _I’m all good. Nice throw, Spock."_

Uhura looked down to see the headphones she had been holding had snapped under her grip. She stared at them and then looked up to see Sulu watching her, while everyone else on the bridge celebrated. Uhura put them down at her console, ignoring the helmsman’s looks of concern, and stared blankly at her screen. Spock admired many things – science, human traditions and the discovery of new planets. It wasn’t strange that that emotion could extend to people. After all, he respected Kirk – he was their captain.

 _Something Kirk could easily take advantage of, if he so wished_. Uhura pushed that thought away when Doctor McCoy’s voice suddenly cut through the bridge.

“ _Hey, just one question – how the hell are you all knowing what is going on down here? Did everyone turn psychic when we left?_ ”

Uhura looked up to see the whole bridge staring at her. There was the sound of someone clearing their throat before Septhera spoke, “ _I believe I may have the answer to that..._ ”

***********************

Upon their return to the Enterprise, McCoy was immediately loaded with dealing with Kirk and Septhera’s injuries as well as the injury of that other ensign – what was his name, Fredrickson? Oh, he didn’t have time at the moment. He relieved Dr Marcus, sending her down to Engineering where she would be more useful with her weapons expertise, and went about regenerating the security officer’s injuries so that he was almost good as new. The doctor had decided that the man was insane when he inquired if he was immediately able to go back on duty without rest, which McCoy vehemently denied.

Everyone on this goddamn ship was crazy. He had the four- or was it five – engineers put out for about three days because of a burst pipe which caused them chemical burns and now he had to deal with the Commander Chief of Security and the Captain in his sickbay, with injuries that required more healing time. Why’d they have to happen to the most restless people on this ship?

His point was proven when he came out of his office to see Jim attempted to sneak out after an hour of rest, his shoulder still bandaged up.

“See you, Bones.”

“Nice try, Jim. Back to bed, now, or I will knock you out with a hypospray and tie you to it.”

“Oooh, Bones is into the kinky stuff.” Jim teased in a sing-song voice, “You prefer rope or handcuffs?”

McCoy was ready to throw his datapad at his head and give him concussion, “I swear to God, Jim –”

“Relax, Bones, I’m getting back to bed.”

McCoy didn’t move until he watched the captain get back into bed and lie down. After a minute of watching him, McCoy went to check his other patients when Jim suddenly called out, “You don’t have any whiskey by chance, would you, Bones?”

McCoy glared at him, raising an eyebrow, “I don’t keep alcohol in my surgery unless it’s for disinfectant and, if I did, I wouldn’t be sharing any of it with you.”

“Aw, why not?” Kirk looked like a little boy, pouting because he wasn’t getting his ice cream, “Come on, Bones!”

“No. Personally, I don’t like the fact how much you have been drinking lately. ”

That part was true. Jim was a social drinker and often went drinking out in bars on Earth – mainly for the women but he did scull his fair share of alcohol. But not long after all the crap with Khan, McCoy had noticed that the captain was getting drunker more often lately, and it wasn’t just tipsy. It had really come to a head at the Christmas party. Those shoes still reeked of prawn and vodka and McCoy was sure that he hadn’t seen Dr Marcus or Kirk in a room together ever since.

He’d asked Jim about it before. Jim either shrugged it off or quickly changed the subject. And now, after waking up with a hangover on the day of a landing mission – which, by the way, was too close to turning deadly – it was getting ridiculous. McCoy told this last part to Jim aloud right then.

Jim looked away, “Yeah, Bones, but what happened had nothing to do with –”

“Goddammit, Jim, who are you kidding? I saw you on the field today! If Spock, Septhera and, oh, who else- oh, yeah, me! - hadn’t been there, you would have been eaten by a two-headed lizard freak monster!”

“Well, that’s a bit cruel. I did kill it with a boulder on my own, you know.”

“It came after us because you decided to dance ahead of us!” McCoy snapped, “I should’ve tested you this morning to see if the alcohol was out of your system.”

Jim merely groaned, “I’m fine, Bones. See?”

McCoy shook his head, frowning, “Dammit, Jim, you have a problem! You need some help!”

“Oh, Bones. It isn’t a problem!” Jim pointed out, attempted to remain nonchalant, “Can’t you just trust me about that?”

“No.” McCoy replied without hesitation, “Now, unless you’re going to tell me what has turned you into the next Alcoholics Anonymous candidate, I’m going to check on my other patients and you better still be here when I get back.”

Jim nodded at McCoy and looked away. As McCoy walked over to the other bed, he saw the corners of Jim’s mouth downturn into a subtle frown. Then, not for the first time, he began to worry about his friend, and turned his attention to his datapad.

“Are you alright, doctor?”

McCoy looked up from his datapad. Septhera was sitting up in her long-sleeved black undershirt and pants, her foot and ankle bandaged up in a splint. It had been a mild fracture but he wanted Septhera off it for at least three days for good measure.

McCoy rolled his eyes, “Just the usual pain in the ass stuff I have to deal with. How’s your ankle?”

“Well, with the use of the anaesthetic hypospray, I have been able to numb the pain. I will let you know when it wears off.”

McCoy nodded before eyeing her closely, “How is your hearing?”

Septhera met his eyes, dark green to chocolate brown, and replied quietly, “I can still hear ringing in them.”

McCoy walked up to her and pulled back one of her pointy ears, revealing the hearing aid. As one of the few on the ship that was aware of her heightened senses, he made it a requirement after she has been on a landing to see if they were all still functioning well. Her sight was fine, he knew that after she told Scotty that he still had some chocolate in the corner of his mouth as they had passed him briefly right after teleporting. He didn’t really bother with taste, smell or touch. He was more concerned about her hearing after being around a two-headed lizard with an ear-splitting roar by human standards.

“What setting did you put this to?” He inquired

“Moderately deaf.” McCoy gave her a look. She elaborated, “I can hear quite clearly to a radius of about 50 feet around me.”

“And what is your usual range again?” McCoy glanced at the medical file as he brought it up on the datapad, “300 feet. I still think that 50 feet is too high. Is there a setting that could go lower?”

“The lowest is completely deaf and that reduces it to about 30 feet.” Septhera replied, “But I choose not to put it that low.”

He glared at her. Septhera was one of the few on this ship that he didn’t mind being almost insane. She was quite sensible a lot of the time and, despite being a Vulcan, didn’t piss him off as much as her annoying older brother did.

“Are you out of your Vulcan mind?” he demanded, “Why would you want it to be that high? With the amount of noise that goes on in this place, you’ll be deaf by 30!”

Septhera gave him a sad smile before reaching out. She paused before grabbing McCoy’s hand and instead grabbed the sleeve of his blue uniform shirt. McCoy looked from her hand to her.

“Doctor, how would you react if someone suddenly cut off your hands?”

“I think my general response would be somewhere along the lines of ‘Ow.’”

“Doctor McCoy. Please think.” Septhera eyed him seriously, “If you had your hands cut off, how would that affect you?”

He paused and thought. Without his hands, it would definitely make it very difficult to do things. Get dressed, brush his teeth, eating food, drinking his whiskey – he’d have to do that through a straw. He almost winced at that thought. What else wouldn’t he be able to do? Operating the turbolift wouldn’t work. He couldn’t threaten Jim anymore; he wouldn’t be able to use a hypospray. And working his tricorder would definitely be impossible. He...

McCoy’s train of thought stopped dead. He wouldn’t be able to do anything medical related, really. He would be turned into the equivalent of a medical audiobook. He wouldn’t be able to be a doctor anymore.

When he hit this thought, Septhera nodded, “You see that? That thought? It brought a look of fear to your eyes. You couldn’t consider life without doing what you love. What you are good at.”

McCoy turned to her as she continued, “My sword fighting, my stealth, my position as a Security Chief – that is what I am good at and that is because of my heightened senses. Dulling them to the extent where they are even Vulcan standards, let alone human, and then returning me to work would be the same as removing your hands and telling you to do your job. Do you understand me, Doctor?”

McCoy stared at her for a second before nodding, “Um... Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

He cleared his throat, now feeling a little awkward, “I, um, sorry.”

Septhera shook her head, “It isn’t necessary. It was merely a misunderstanding. But thank you for learning to understand.”

McCoy nodded, clearing his throat and looking back at her hearing aid, “Alright. I want you to let me know if you still hear ringing after the ankle is healed. If so, I’m gonna have to take a closer look, make sure you haven’t permanently damaged your eardrum. Will probably only reduce your range to about 200 feet if that is the case.”

Septhera nodded and smiled at him, “Thank you, Doctor.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes at her. Everyone on this ship, insane!

At that moment, the sickbay door opened and he was surprised to see Lieutenant Uhura walk in. He folded his arms, turning to her. In his medical opinion, she looked like hell. In his personal opinion, she still looked like hell. There were bags developing under her eyes, which were wide and pumping with adrenalin. He wondered when was the last time she slept.

“Lieutenant, I wasn’t aware it was your break.”

“I just wanted to make sure that Septhera was alright.”

This interested him. Just Septhera. No Kirk and definitely not asking if Spock was here. McCoy nodded slowly and gestured to her.

“Don’t give her any ideas of escaping.” He warned Uhura as he turned his attention to the paperwork on his desk. Or made it look like it. As McCoy sat down, he kept his shoulders hunched and head down as he listened.

“Septhera.”

“Hello, Nyota. You look unwell. Are you alright?”

“I- I’m fine.”

McCoy didn’t believe her. From the subtle tone in Septhera’s voice, she didn’t either.

“Did the footage from my insignia camera disturb you? If so, I do apologise for the trauma that I may have inflicted upon you.”

“Well, what I watched wasn’t exactly... easy on the nerves. I wanted to say sorry for putting that out on the ship. I just...” Uhura paused, “I wanted to help and I wasn’t sure how else I could.”

“It is understandable, Nyota. Do not beat yourself up about this.” Septhera replied, “I think, however, it would be best for me to change the frequency of my video links in case you are tempted again.”

Pause. “I agree. Thank you.”

There was another pause before Septhera spoke, “Uhura. How is my brother?”

McCoy could almost taste the tension in the air as Uhura spoke, “He is on the bridge, acting as captain. He seems to be doing well.”

“I would be too if I got fantastic angry sex the night before.”

McCoy resisted the urge to hit himself in the face and throw up simultaneously. He turned around to see Uhura glaring at Jim, who was still lying down and looking at the ceiling. Septhera was now sitting up, watching the encounter closely.

McCoy expected Uhura to walk over and slap Jim, or at least scream at him for being such a jerk. But she did something which surprised all of them – she turned and borderline ran out of the sick bay. McCoy and Septhera met eyes, each looking as surprised as the other felt. They looked at Jim, who also looked surprised, like he wasn’t expecting that reaction. He turned to the other two.

“I better go check she is OK.” Jim offered, looking quite sombre, getting up and heading towards the door.

McCoy nodded numbly and turned back to his desk. It wasn’t until he heard the sick bay door close that he realised what just happened and shouted, “No, wait! Dammit, JIM!”

He heard the sound of running feet before he opened the door. Looking out, McCoy already knew that he was gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, kudos, hope you liked it! 
> 
> Oh, final note, some chapters are longer than others, simply because when I initially started writing this for my friend, this was how I sent them to her, and it's hard for me not to see them in these chapters.


	4. Target Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim is confused at why Uhura is behaving so aggressively towards him. Uhura needs to find an outlet for her frustrations. Septhera decides that she must get to the root of her captain's bizarre self-destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! How are you going? I have some good comments about this fic so far, which makes me so happy :) 
> 
> Anyway, here's the next chapter - enjoy!

“Uhura! Uhura, wait!”

Jim ran after her, his good arm outstretched to stop her. She stopped in her quick paced walking and turned to him. The look she gave him stopped him dead in his tracks. Her expression was anger, more towering that any she had directed at him before.

But her eyes read... fear? Or was it guilt?

“Yes, Captain?” She asked, her voice like ice.

Now that Jim had her attention, he froze. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He looked for a way to start.

“Look...” Jim began, “What I said... I was just messing around... I didn’t-”

“What my boyfriend and I do together is our business, Jim. _Ours_. Do you understand that?”

Jim started as he looked at her. Uhura continued, anger seething from her voice, “I want you to stay out of my business, especially in relation to Spock.”

Now, Jim wasn’t the kind of person who took someone’s anger lying down. After being the target for anger from many of his mother’s boyfriends and stepfathers, he had grown to take that anger and throw it right back at them. This situation wasn’t any different.

“What, I am supposed to ignore Spock when he turns up confused, wondering why his girlfriend is angry at him one minute and then gives him sex the next?” Jim retorted defensively, “If you are having problems with _your_ boyfriend, make sure he understands them so that he doesn’t turn to his friends for the answers if you don’t want him too!”

She looked quite taken back by his outburst. Jim immediately felt bad. He didn’t like fighting– it was just often the only option he had – and he and Uhura had started to get on well lately. After the business with Khan, their relationship had become more relaxed, definitely on the side of friends.

That added to the guilt when he realised that he wanted her boyfriend in ways that were more than on the side of friends.

Jim hadn’t been sure how long he knew he was attracted to Spock. There had been moments not long after Nero where he had just stopped and admired everything about him. The curve and dip of his neck, the unique shape of his ears, the attractive flush that he got sometimes when he was quietly flustered. Kirk simply had thought that they were just going to be images for him to dredge back up in the shower early in the morning.

But then when he... died – Jim hated thinking about that – he remembered seeing Spock through the glass. He was so _scared_ and he had reached out to his first officer, just thinking about how much he wanted to be able to interlace his fingers in Spock’s long ones, how much he wanted to pull him in and hold him, feel his warmth against his own, how much he didn’t want to let him go. It had been a revelation which Jim thought had come too late as he pressed his hand against the glass and stared into the grief-stricken eyes of his first officer.

_I am in love with this man._

Jim didn’t really remember what happened much after having that thought. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in hospital, with Bones telling him that he was ‘barely dead’. But the only thing he remembered vividly was seeing Spock at the end of his bed, the corners of his mouth turned up into a subtle smile, his eyes shining with the joy the rest of his face refused to express. And then he said it – he called him ‘Jim’. For the first time since they met, Spock called him Jim. His heart had flipped and that’s when Jim knew he had fallen – and fallen hard.

“Nyota, are you-? Captain, what are you doing out of the confines of the sick bay?”

Jim and Uhura both turned to see Spock standing at the end of the corridor. Jim’s breath half-caught in his throat as he finally saw his first officer for the first time properly since being beamed back to the ship. There was a light green bruise under his left cheekbone, right where he had been thrown back into the cliff face. He had let go of the cliff and slid down, running underneath the lizard’s feet to grab Septhera’s katana. It had been the most nerve-racking moment of that mission for Jim, even with the lizard’s feet trying to crush him and Bones while the two heads tried to turn Septhera into an entrée. Jim remembered the feeling of his stomach lurching when the lizard’s tail caught Spock around the waist and flung him into the wall. He thought he wouldn’t get up from that.

But when he saw Spock looking so badass when he stabbed the lizard’s head – oh, he had looked _so_ hot. If he hadn’t had a broken collarbone right then, Jim didn’t think he’d have been able to resist the temptation to ravish the Vulcan against the cliff. He was amazed he didn’t pull him in for a passionate make out when Spock had treated the lizard’s other head like a dart and skewered it with the katana.

Man, his urges were starting to get out of control.

“Spock.” Jim suddenly remembered that Uhura was still there. She was surprised to see Spock, “I thought you were on duty.”

“I appointed Sulu to relieve my position while I went to Medical to learn the condition of the captain and my sister.”

“Oh.” Uhura looked away from him, to the ground. Jim watched her hand curl up into a fist and begin to shake. He was almost sure that Spock had noticed this as well.

“Nyota, are you feeling unwell?” Spock inquired, attempting to express his concern.

Uhura whipped around, glaring at him, “I. Am. _Fine_.”

With that, she stormed off around Spock and down the corridor. Neither Jim nor Spock made to follow her. Spock turned to Jim, one of his eyebrows raised.

“Regardless of what she has informed us, I am under the impression that the lieutenant is not ‘fine’.”

Jim nodded, “See that, Spock? You _are_ getting better.”

Spock walked over to Jim, his expression now one of disapproval, “Captain, I strongly advise that you return to Medical. I do not believe that you are in a condition that-”

“Spock.” Jim held up his hand to silence his first officer, “First of all, I'm not on duty. Call me Jim. Secondly, it isn’t my feet that are broken, it’s just my collarbone and it should be healed in a few days.”

“Correct, sir, but only if you allow yourself the prescribed rest and recuperation time which is recommended by your overseeing physician, which in this case would be Dr. McCoy.”

Jim suddenly felt nervous. Spock noticed and once again raised his eyebrow, “I am under the impression that the doctor has not approved you leaving his sick bay.”

“…Yeah. And if I go back, he’ll go trigger happy with his hypospray.”

Spock paused, looking almost thoughtful, “I do need to pay a visitation to the sick bay. I could guide you back and ensure that Dr McCoy does not attempt to do you injury with a hypospray.”

Jim let a small sigh and smiled at Spock, “I guess I can call that a small victory.”

The corner of Spock’s mouth twitched as he gestured back the way that Jim came, “Shall we, Jim?”

Jim sighed, using it to disguise the flutter in his chest as Spock used his first name, “I guess so.”

However, Jim really wasn’t looking forward to facing an enraged Bones with all of his medical equipment within arm’s reach.

***********************

Jim smiled at Spock as they turned and headed back down towards the sickbay. Once they were gone, Uhura stepped out from where she had been standing. Her hands were still in fists. She stared at the ground, willing back the tears that wished to fall.

She needed to breathe. She needed to get out of here. She needed-

“Oof!” A woman’s voice let out in surprise as Uhura felt someone bump into her back. Very not in the mood, she swung around to give them a piece of her mind in about three different languages.

“Oh, Uhura!” Dr Carol Marcus looked at her in surprise, bending down to pick up her PADD, “I didn’t see you, sorry. I was just looking at the – My gosh, are you alright?”

Why does everyone keep asking her that? Uhura nodded at her firmly and gave a quick smile, “Oh, yes, I’m fine. I just got onto break, that’s all. After all – the mission, it-”

Carol nodded, “Yes, it was quite stressful. I watched the whole thing from the sickbay and almost chewed through my cuticles.”

She let out a little laugh, Uhura giving a weak grin in response. She didn’t mind Carol – on the contrary, they had become quite close after she was posted properly to the Enterprise. It was nice to have another woman on board the ship that could tell Jim Kirk where to stick his pants. However, Carol had also gotten to know Uhura as well and, as Uhura could tell from her expression, she wasn’t convinced that Uhura was OK.

“Nyota… If you need to speak to someone, you can come to my quarters anytime.” Carol told her, reaching out to pat her shoulder, “After the mission and with your relationship…”

Uhura felt herself stiffen and Carol noticed, letting herself drift off. Uhura then felt a strong sense of dread when she saw Carol’s eyes light up.

“Uhura, sometimes, on Earth, when I felt work was getting to me, I would go to the firing range and let loose my phaser on a couple of targets.” Carol began looking at her datapad, suddenly looking very interested in what was on it, “I do know that Septhera has a target range area in Engineering. Yes, it is often used to train security officers as well, but I am sure that they wouldn’t mind if you borrowed a phaser and let off a little steam.”

The more Uhura thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. She gave Carol a small smile and nodded, “Thank you, Carol. I will see you around.”

“See you.” Carol chimed as she hurried on past Uhura, now remembering that she had something to do.

Following Carol’s advice, Uhura took the turbolift down to Engineering and went to look for the target range. She had heard about it, but she had never been there before, so she had to ask for directions from a couple of engineers before she found it hidden away, in almost a complete corner of the ship. There were three dummies made of plastic which had many cuts and slices through them. Victims of Septhera’s sword fighting practices. Along the wall, hanging down from a pipe, was three targets, with a thick metal wall standing directly behind them. It curved around and reached a small booth made out of an assortment of melted-down broken pieces of metal with a broken piece of thick plastic surrounding the top of it, for safety reasons.

Uhura had expected to find a couple of security officers practicing down here with their phasers. But there were none. She found a person she had least expected to find in this area.

“Oh, hey, there, Uhura!” Scotty waved at her cheerfully, pushing up his welding mask as he paused in his welding of the shooting wall, “I’d never expect tah find you down ‘ere”

Uhura looked at him in shock, “I could say the same. I thought you weren’t much of a weapons type.”

“Well, I don’t use it a lot. But, ah, Septhera does and the lass needs her practice.” Scotty shrugged, pushing down his welding mask so now everything he said echoed, “The way aye see it, it’s either the targets or one of us and I’d like tah keep mah body scar free, thank you.”

Uhura rolled her eyes, “I don’t think that Septhera would ever go after you in a bad mood.”

Scotty pushed back up his mask, eyes goggling at her, “Imma gonna guess that yah ain’t even seen Septhera in a bad mood. When she is, yah stay well clear, hole up in a nice pipe with a bottle of whiskey and phaser on stun.”

Uhura gave him a half-smile. She felt a little surprised at that reaction – this was the first time she had given some form of a true smile since the Kirk incident.

And at that thought, the smile disappeared.

Scotty noticed it and stood up, eyeing her closely, “Anyway, what are yah doing down here? Did yah wanna use some of the equipment?”

“Um, actually. Yes.”

Scotty’s eyes goggled at her. She bit back the urge to laugh at just how comical his face was and continued, “I, um, unfortunately left my phaser in my room. You wouldn’t know if there were any spares about, would you?”

Scotty was still staring at her before he sighed, “I must be stark-ravin’ mad, givin’ _you_ of all people something that you can fire at someone.”

He picked up his welding gear and walked out of the shooting range, putting them next to the nearest sword-fighting target. Reaching around, Scotty pulled out his phaser and set it to stun before turning to Uhura.

“Now, stand in the booth, aim and fire. You know the drill.” Scotty told her, “Oh, and try _not_ ta hit the back wall.”

Uhura raised an eyebrow, “Why not?”

“It, uh, it’s a _lil_ temperamental.” Scotty scratched the back of his head as he guided her to the booth, opening the door for her, “It’s why we set the phasers ta stun. Sometimes, it’ll just hit the wall and that’ll be that.”

“Buuuut…” Uhura drew it out for him.

Scotty spoke quickly, his nerves starting to make his actions jittery, “There have been… some – very few! - cases where… it has… _kinda_ … rebounded off the wall.”

Uhura stared at him. He had better be joking. Scotty threw up his hands in surrender, eyeing the phaser that was in her hands like she would use it. She was half tempted.

“Look, the metal has a reflective surface that was put on it when they built the ship! It used ta be for shielding until that bastard Khan blasted it off! That’s why I’va been going over it with my weldin’ kit, tah try and get ridda it.”

Uhura looked at the booth before looking back at Scotty, “What do I do if it reflects?”

Scotty got into the booth, gesturing for her to join him. It was quite spacious, being able to fit them side by side. Once they were in, Scotty pointed at a rope held down by a strap in the corner of the booth, “This ‘ere is the Shield Rope. If you think that it is gonna reflect back at you, or it looks like it is, you pull this rope loose and get your asses to the ground. The plastic is also old shielding and also has the reflective surface. It’ll either send it bouncing right back or it’ll stop it in its tracks.”

Uhura looked out to the range before looking at Scotty, “Are you sure about this?”

Scotty nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. For some reason, it comforted Uhura like nothing else had these past few days. So, with a deep breath, Uhura raised the phaser in her hands, took aim and fired.

Uhura wasn’t unfamiliar with firing a phaser. After all, she had basically subdued Khan with one. But Khan had only been two feet away and she didn’t have the threat of her shot rebounding and stunning her nagging in the back of her mind. The shot didn’t hit the target completely. It hit the corner of the target and dissipated. But at least it wasn’t rebounding back at her. There was a snort and Uhura turned to glare at Scotty, who was trying to hide his amusement. When he noticed her looking, he straightened up and regained his composure.

She raised an eyebrow at him, “Oh, and you can do better?”

This was Scotty’s turn to raise an eyebrow. He reached forward and grabbed her free hand, putting it under her firing elbow, “You gotta keep yah firin’ arm rested. It’ll keep yah aim steady.”

He then stepped around her and grabbed both her arms, raising them both up until the tip of her phaser was at her eye level, “It’s like usin’ a bow. Yah gotta keep your eye on the target.”

Uhura was surprised, “Since when did you get good at using phasers?”

“Well, someone’s gotta test this thing.” Scotty stepped back around and leaned against the booth wall, “Now. Relax and shoot.”

Uhura closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. As she released it, she could feel some of the tension of the past days leaving her. Once she opened her eyes again, Uhura focused on the middle target and fired.

She hit it square in the bullseye.

Uhura let out an exalted gasp of surprise while Scotty laughed, “Hahaha, see? You can do it! Give it another go!”

So she did. And again. And again. With each pull of the trigger and with each target she hit, Uhura’s shoulders relaxed and she could feel a smile pulling on the corners of her mouth. After each successful shot, Scotty cheered her on happily.

“That’s it! Oh-ha! You’re a natural, Uhura! C’mon, give us another!”

In the excitement, she accidentally skewered her aim. The shot missed the target and hit the back wall. Uhura had a spilt second to recognise that the shot was rebounding back at her.

“ _Get down_!” Scotty ripped the cord off the strap and pulled Uhura down to the ground. A half second after they got down, they heard plastic hit metal and a loud thud which made the entire booth vibrate.

Uhura waited to see if the shot rebounded off that. There was silence. Scotty and Uhura both turned and looked at each other. That’s when the laughter started. Uhura was sure her laughter was border lining on hysteria, but she didn’t care. It just felt so good to laugh again.

“Oh- oh my- that- that was good.” Scotty gasped out, “I – _that_ was fun.”

Uhura turned and looked at Scotty, finally breathing again, “Yeah. Yeah, it was fun. I should give it a go sometime.”

“Yeah. That’d be good, aye?”

Uhura smiled. Scotty gave her a grin. She had just noticed how bright the Scotman’s eyes shone when he was excited – and such a weird hazel colour they were too – when there was a banging on the door. Scotty stood up and opened the door, revealing his alien co-engineer. His name escaped Uhura. Oh, what was it? Kenstal? Kimrah?

“Oh, what do yah want now, Keenser?” Scotty demanded, sounding quite frustrated.

Well, she had known it had started with ‘K’. The little cabbage-looking alien, never one to waste words, held up the datapad in his hands and pointed. Scotty took it out of his hands and then started rattling out a long list of curses that really emphasised his Scottish accent.

“For god’s sake, cannae anybody on this ship do anything without getting themselves blown up?!” Scotty then paused and turned to face Uhura, like he had just remembered she was there, “Aargh, I’m sorry ‘bout this. A walkway collapsed and I got some engineers down.”

“Oh, it’s OK. I, um, was just going to go back to my quarters.”

Scotty nodded. Uhura was struck by almost how forlorn he looked. Before he turned away, she quickly added on, “We should do this again soon.”

Scotty stared at her, stunned, before a half-grin crept up his face, “Aye, we should. See yah around, Uhura!”

Uhura watched him snapping at Keenser as he stormed off, describing what he was going to do to the people that built the walkways of this ship once he got his hands on them, and couldn’t help but give herself a small smile.

Yeah, she definitely should do this again.

***********************

_“Run! Faster!” Kirk shout rang in her ears._

_He really didn’t need to point out the obvious, Septhera thought to herself. They were running as fast as they could. The giant reptilian creature behind them ensured that._

_She glanced behind her. Her two security officers dove out of the way of an incoming foot, Fredrickson hitting a tree quite hard. She didn’t have time to slow down and help them so she kept running. They came to a clearing up ahead, with a large cliff looming over them, covered in jutting rocks and moss and vines, blocking their way. It was a dead end._

_“Captain, we must split up and divide the creature’s attention. It is the only logical way to enable us to escape or defeat it.” She heard Spock telling Jim over the ringing over the monster’s footsteps in her ears. She was going to have a tough time hearing tomorrow._

_“Good idea. Spilt!” Jim shouted_

_“Dammit, Jim, wait!” McCoy went to stop him, but the roar of the lizard monster drowned him out. Septhera ran for a nearby tree, Spock ran into the underbrush while both McCoy and Jim ran for the mountain. Septhera had an idea: climb up to the high branch of the tree and then throw her katana at the lizard’s head. If she didn’t kill it, it would at least wound and distract it, allowing the others to escape to safety._

_When she finally reached the top, she heard the shout of ‘Bones!’_

_Swinging around, Septhera’s heart leapt into her throat. Jim was at the top of the cliff, hanging on to a rock edge. McCoy was sliding down it, a broken vine stem in his hand – heading straight for the open mouth of the beast. Septhera went to grab her katana – and found that she couldn’t move. She wanted to scream, struggle, shout to the doctor, but all she could do was watch him falling closer and closer to the sharp teeth…_

“Septhera! Doctor, what’s happening?”

“It’z like she’z zeizing up!”

“No, she’s not – Septhera, wake up!”

Her eyes snapped open. At first the bright lights obscured the faces – even with her contacts in, waking up in a bright area was always hard for her eyes to adjust to. After a moment, the details started to sharpen and clear. Three faces looked down on her. She could see two golden uniforms and recognised the taller one as Sulu. The blur of red hair clicked in her head as Chekov. The last face, the first thing she noticed was worried dark eyes: Doctor McCoy’s.

He was alive.

“Septhera? Good God, are you alright?” McCoy demanded.

She nodded her head, closed her eyes again and took in a deep breath. It was just a dream. She remembered back to that moment and how she had thrown the katana. That’s what happened. They were alright.

“Thera, are you OK?” Sulu asked, stepping forward a bit.

Opening her eyes again, now properly restored to their normal sight, she nodded, “Yes, I just had a rather… disturbing nightmare. I am in good health.”

“Disturbing isn’t even the right word. Your heart rate went through the roof.” McCoy tapped on her support machine, “What the hell was so bad that it nearly made your heart explode?”

She paused. They all watched her expectantly.

“…I… I can’t remember.”

McCoy eyed her closely before nodding, “Alright. Are you up for a visit? These two have been waiting for you to wake up for nearly half an hour.”

Septhera nodded, “I will be alright, doctor. Please continue in your duties.”

McCoy rolled his eyes and went back into his office, muttering something about ‘goddamn duties’, before closing the door behind him. She looked around the room and noticed that two other nurses, including Nurse Chapel, were attending to three people in Engineering shirts. Mostly cuts and bruises, but Septhera guessed that neither the doctor nor Scotty was pleased with it. Sulu and Chekov stood at either side of Septhera’s bed. Sulu gave her a smile. Chekov looked nervous. They haven’t changed since Septhera first met them at the Academy. They were like the little brothers that she would have loved to have had.

“Well, how are you feeling?” Sulu inquired, “That was some fine katana work out there.”

“I did learn from a qualified master of the sword.” She smiled at him, making him grin at her.

Septhera turned to look at Chekov, who was looking at his feet. She frowned slightly, “Are you alright, Pavel?”

Chekov looked up. His eyes, so young and idealistic, were wide with… shock? No, that wasn’t the emotion. Relief? Possibly. Septhera looked down at his finger and saw that there was dried blood caked around his thumb.

“Chekov, what happened to your finger?”

He looked down at it in surprise, “I- I am not zure. I – I guezz I bit too hard when wiewing ze mission.”

That’s when it clicked in her head. It was worry in his eyes. He had been worried about her.

And he had seen it all on the big screen.

“Oh, _brathishka_ ” Septhera used her nickname for him, “I do not mean to make you worry so much. I did not realise that you would ever witness a mission from that perspective.”

 Chekov nodded, taking in a deep breath before he spoke, “It – I waz just vorried vhen… vhen you didn’t get back up.”

“Yeah” Septhera turned to look at Sulu, “I was too.”

Septhera reached out and touched both of them on their arms, giving them a smile, “I am lucky to have friends like you.”

“Yeah, you vould newer hawe gotten through your computer test vithout me.” Chekov said cheekily to her, a smile creeping up his face.

She raised an eyebrow at him, “I hope you are aware that I still possess the skills to be able to sneak into your quarters while you are in them and leave dead mice in your bed without you ever knowing I was there until you woke up.”

“You promized you vould newer do zat again!”

Sulu laughed before pulling out three packets of crisps from behind him, “Hungry anyone?”

“Intensely.” Septhera smiled before her and Chekov reached out and grabbed one each. As they each broke open their packets, they froze at the sound of a loud snort. Septhera eyed Sulu, who turned to allow her to see Jim lying on his bed, snoring like a foghorn was going off.

It had been an interesting sight when her brother had brought him back to the sick bay after escaping to chase after Uhura. Septhera hoped that he apologised to her. But she had been quite surprised by her behaviour. Uhura had never been the type who would turn and run at the sight of a potential confrontation. If anything, if she felt she needed to, she would instigate them.

After McCoy finally attacked Jim with a hypospray full of sedative, Spock came to inquiry about her condition and stayed to speak for a while. Septhera had noticed the subtle signs of her brother’s confusion when the subject of Uhura had arisen. She guessed that Jim’s sudden announcement of their angry sex wasn’t a concoction to stir Uhura’s wrath and, from the gentle green glow that had graced her brother’s cheeks when she mentioned it, she was quite correct.

“Brother.” She had said, “Has she at all mentioned why she had this… sudden change of heart?”

Spock had paused before speaking, “I am uncertain about the source of this behaviour. I received no indication of wishing to instigate verbal communication with her during our shift and she immediately departed the bridge after she was relieved from duty. As I am not aware of what activities or conversations she elected to participate in during her leisure time, I can only assume that something occurred during that time which influenced her behaviour.”

Septhera had nodded and then retreated into her own contemplative mood just as McCoy told Spock to get out to let her get some ‘goddamn rest in this nuthouse’ or he would be the next victim to his hypospray. Spock had merely pointed out that he could achieve the same result on McCoy with the Vulcan Neck Pinch and left McCoy fuming. Just before she had succumbed to the allure of sleep, Septhera decided to find out just what Uhura had been doing before she had called on Septhera’s assistance.

“…been out like that?”

“Pardon?” Septhera looked at Sulu.

“How long has Jim been out like that?” Sulu repeated.

Septhera looked around and found a clock. After doing the math mentally, she replied, “At least 3 hours. He should be ready to stir any moment now.”

“It really iz amazing zat the captain surwiwed with juzt a broken collarbone.” Chekov commented.

“Well, he’s a tough guy.” Sulu shrugged, “I’m more amazed that he can survive the amount of booze has been drinking lately. I mean, you all saw him at the Christmas party.”

A smattering blush went across Chekov’s cheeks, “I don’t zink I vill ever forget.”

Sulu snickered, “Sorry, but the image of the captain sitting your lap – oh, I was laughing for ages – OW!”

Septhera had smacked his arm, “Stop it. You know that it is embarrassing for Pavel. Leave him alone.”

Chekov looked at her, a little grateful, “Zank you. But I do admit- the captain iz a pretty funny drunk. Zough, I am not zure zat Dr Marcuz vould agree.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve even seen the captain check her out since that night.” 

Septhera’s attention was quickly caught, “Does anyone actually know what happened during their interaction?”

Sulu shrugged, “All we know is they disappeared for about 20 minutes. When they came back, Dr Marcus was quiet and the captain decided to ask Santa for a puppy.”

Chekov blushed again and Sulu laughed. During their ensuing squabble, they were eventually told to get out by Dr McCoy as it was ‘starting to make his ears bleed’. But once she was alone, Septhera decided that it would be a good idea, once she was allowed to leave the sick bay, to have a friendly discussion with Dr Carol Marcus. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, kudos and what-not :)
> 
> I love my Schura! <3 <3
> 
> Also, from the research I did, brathishka means little brother in Russian. If I'm wrong, please tell me. Also, if Pavel & Scotty's accents are difficult to understand, please let me know. I do try to be consistent with it but sometimes a word will escape me.


	5. Dangerous Facts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhura and Spock have another disagreement. Bones tries to make Jim stay in bed. Carol recalls the Christmas night at Septhera's insistence - however, does she tell her everything?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow- 300 hits! That makes me just feel warm inside. I'm so glad everyone is enjoying the story so far :3

After he was satisfied that his sister was recovering at a reasonable pace and that Jim was not at risk to attempt another escape from the medical bay at the present time, Spock  was ejected from the medical bay by Dr McCoy and returned to the bridge. He spent the next two hours in the captain’s chair and attending to his duties as well as Jim’s. He eventually permitted Ensign Chekov and Lieutenant Sulu to be relieved – he was aware that they were concerned for Septhera, although he did inform them of her well-being when he had returned. Eventually, Spock relieved himself and appointed the comms to one of the helmsmen before departing.

Spock had thought it would be both logical and appropriate to spend the night in his own quarters, but still made the decision that it would be wise to make a detour to Uhura’s quarters to enquire about her emotional status. When he had happened upon the scene between Jim and Uhura in the corridor no less than 10 metres away from the medical bay, Spock had noticed that the emotional tension which stiffened Uhura’s movements. Her short words with him, while indicating that she was ‘fine’, made Spock believe that she was the opposite of this state.

Spock made his way to Uhura’s quarters, knocking on the door before entering. He agreed that the last time he entered unannounced was undoubtedly a pleasant experience but it had left him far more confused at the conclusion of intercourse and Spock was in a far more inquisitive mood to learn some answers to the questions which plagued his mind.

Uhura opened the door. Spock immediately observed her swift change in behaviour. There was still something akin to sadness on her face, but there was also an enthusiasm which had previously been absent.

“Hello, Spock.” She greeted him, “Do you want to come in? I have been-”

As she spoke, Uhura leaned forward and kissed him on the corner of his mouth, subtly tracing the tip of her tongue against his lips. Spock remained unresponsive, allowing the agreeable sensations to course through his body. He often found his internal response fascinating.

“-waiting for you.” Uhura gave him a smile as she pulled back

Spock cocked his head, “You seem to be in a mood that agrees with you.”

Uhura frowned slightly, “What do you mean?”

“The last time I encountered you, you looked far more distressed than you are currently.”

Spock watched as Uhura stiffened a little before she spoke, “I – I just needed to relieve some of the stress I have been feeling lately. It turns out that firing phasers really helps. Spock, you can come in if you wish.”

Reluctantly, Spock stepped inside and let the door close behind him. The moment the door clicked shut; Uhura wrapped her arms around Spock’s neck and pulled him in for a deeper kiss. This was not as much of a shock to Spock as it was last night, but it was still a surprise. Unsure what to do, Spock remained still, attempting to deduce the source of her sudden erotic urges, when she pulled back.

“What’s wrong? You were a lot more responsive last night.” Uhura pointed out, raising a coy eyebrow.

“I must confess, your recent behaviour has confused me, Nyota. I have been under the impression that you have been frustrated and angry with me. After previous hostile interactions, you have either refused to communicate with me or, if you must, spoke to me in tones that indicated your anger. I was not aware, however, you could have sexual intercourse which also conveyed this emotion and I did not believe that you were inclined to use it to express yourself as such.”

Uhura pulled away from Spock, still looking at him. Her eyes were hardening and her tone was becoming sharp, “I am trying to make up for our argument. Did you have a problem with my method, Spock?”

“On the contrary, it was quite a… pleasurable experience. However, if I am honest, I do not believe that you were expressing any emotion akin to forgiveness or –”

“Forgiveness?” Uhura glared at him, “You think I forgive you? You were the one that was in the wrong!”

“I am afraid that I still do not see it from that perspective, Nyota.”

“How is it so hard to see? You spend more time on the bridge than you do with me! You won’t come to me unless I tell you do so. You only came here because you thought I was mad!”

“Your current words are proving my hypothesis.”

“Shut up!” Uhura’s voice was becoming loud and fierce, “I am tired of having to compete for your attention, Spock!”

“I have explained before, Uhura, that we are both officers of Starfleet and are both aboard a operating star ship with an active mission that requires us to give our attention to the duties than are assigned to us. It is only logical that we must spend-”

“Do _not_ give me that logical bullshit, Spock!” Uhura snapped, “You want to be logical? It is only logical that if you have intimate affections for someone that you should wish to spend more time with them than most people! Why do I have to fight your job for your attention?”

Spock remained silent, not able to respond. At this, Uhura raised her hands in the air in a pose that he had seen both Jim and Dr McCoy use multiple times as an indication of surrender.

“Please… just… get out.”

Spock nodded curtly, “As you wish, Nyota.”

With that, Spock turned around and exited Uhura’s room. From the other side of the door, he heard Uhura let out a breath which sounded remarkably like a sigh. Was she exhausted? If she was, then Spock was even more confused. He resolved that he must consult Jim again – though he was sure that Dr McCoy would not wish to partake in such consultation.

 _However,_ he thought to himself, _perhaps it would also be wise to consult my sister. As a person aboard this ship of equal background to me and with a similar mindset, perhaps she would be able to shed some light upon this matter_.

But Uhura’s final statement had left him contemplating. He did agree that if you held intimate affections for someone, you would wish to spend more time with them. She had been correct – it was logical. But Spock also was quite satisfied with the amount of time he spent with Uhura prior to their argument. What would be the logical reasoning for that?

Spock decided that it would be best to retire to his room and meditate to see if logic would present any solutions for his conundrum.

***********************

“You want to do _what_?” McCoy demanded.

“I wish to be able to leave the sick bay and explore the ship.”

McCoy raised both his eyebrows at Septhera, who remained completely straight faced. She had to be having him on. She couldn’t go anywhere in her condition. Her ankle wouldn’t even be in walking condition at that moment. As he stared at her unwavering expression, he made a mental note to never play against her in poker.

“Well, while I appreciate that you have _asked_ to leave…” _For once_ , he mentally grumbled, “…there is no way in hell that you would be able to walk on that thing, no matter how much balance training you have had.”

“Oh, no, Doctor. You misunderstand me. I wish to use a hoverchair.”

“You can’t. I haven’t had anyone to look at them yet after they broke down a week ago.” McCoy shook his head, “Besides, in the rare case that I’d let you leave this room, you aren’t going alone.”

“Do you not trust me to return?” Septhera inquired, cocking her head slightly.

“You didn’t last time you were injured and I stupidly let you out. For God’s sake, I found you playing craps with Scotty!”

“He was teaching me the rules. We did not have games of the sort on Vulcan.”

“Shocker.” The doctor deadpanned.

Septhera then had a small passing moment. Her dark green eyes suddenly clouded over – she looked almost… _sad_. No. This woman was often many things – cheeky, inquisitive, brave and a pain in the ass, but sad? No. This was the Vulcan equivalent of puppy dog eyes. Dammit, he was gonna kill whoever taught her that - probably Jim. McCoy couldn’t handle this.

He sighed irritably, “I – I’m sure I _may_ have a wheelchair in the back that we used for P- someone a while ago. I can take a look for you.”

Septhera sat up straighter, the clouds gone from her eyes, “Thank you. I very much appreciate it, Doctor.”

“Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes and walked over to the medical supply area, past the three broken hover chairs and stopped. Yep, there it was. Pike’s old wheelchair. He'd donated it to the Enterprise after he'd gotten on his feet again. McCoy mentally scolded himself for almost mentioning the old admiral to Septhera as he pulled out the chair. It hadn’t been easy for any of them, but Pike’s death had hit her hard. He was sure that she would've decapitated Khan on sight if it hadn’t have been for Spock.

Septhera’s eyes widened as he brought the wheelchair to her. He froze, praying she didn’t recognise it.

“…It looks... fancier than I would have initially believed.” Septhera commented, giving McCoy a grateful smile.

“Fancier? What’d you expect, two bike wheels and a swing chair? This is the 23rd Century, Thera.” McCoy walked over with the chair before turning to her, “D’you mind…?”

He held out his hand to her. Septhera looked down at it and realised what he was going to do. She reached over to the table next to her bed and grabbed the velvet gloves that Spock had brought with him that morning. He hadn’t stay for too long, as he was on the bridge for Alpha and Beta shift that day, but McCoy was pretty sure he'd overheard asking Septhera if he could talk to her later on. Sure, McCoy wasn’t overly fond of the guy, but he didn’t look like he had slept all night. Must be that Uhura crap that was going on.

He knew how he felt.

“Bones – what the- You got me _again_?!

McCoy’s head snapped up as he glanced over at Jim, “Ah, morning, sunshine. Yes, I believe you were attempting to talk my ears off about a threesome with two kitten twins when I gave you an extra dose.”

He'd been desperate. McCoy had been ready to go out and get some much needed sleep when Jim woke back up and just started to talk. And talk. And talk. All as revenge for sedating him earlier. M’Benga had come in for his shift and was surprised to see McCoy still here, unable to get away from the persistent Jim.

In the end, McCoy finally zapped him again with the hypospray when he wasn’t looking and got the hell out of there. The result: only four hours sleep and most of that wasn’t peaceful. Strangely, going to sleep after almost being eaten and crushed by a two-headed T-Rex during the day wasn’t the best combination.

“Hey, that was a fun night. Those girls, they – What’re you doing?”

Septhera, having now put her gloves on, placed her arm around McCoy’s shoulder and nodded. Putting one arm behind her back and another under her knees, McCoy whisked her up and carried her to the chair. He was always surprised at how light she was to him, considering the amount of punch she could pack. While being carried, Septhera turned her head to address Jim.

“I have been called to an emergency security meeting in Engineering. The doctor is going to supervise me down there, aren't you, Dr McCoy?”

McCoy almost retorted ‘No.’ He was far too busy, with every person in Engineering needing a bandaid and burns and broken limbs to repair. That collapsed walkway was the reason he was stuck here when Jim woke up. But then he realised that by leaving with Septhera, he could escape Jim for a few hours. Get some peace.

“Yes.” He looked over at Jim as he lowered his patient into the chair, “And I expect you to stay here and not get into any mischief.”

“Aw, what, she gets to go out? She’s just Security Chief! I’m the freaking captain!” Jim demanded

McCoy stood straight up and suddenly gave Jim a grin, one that obviously made the captain look visibly nervous, “Right you are, Captain. Someone as important as you - you should get round-the-clock attention. M’Benga!”

M’Benga came over from where he was attending to an engineer with a fractured arm, “Yes, Doctor McCoy?”

“Can you and Nurse Chapel make sure that the captain is so well attended to, that he will not have to lift a finger?” McCoy ordered him, “He is to be the most rested patient in this bay – and I give you permission to use restraints if necessary.”

Jim gulped, “Uh, Bones- Bones, wait!”

With that, McCoy gave himself a satisfied grin and pushed Septhera out of the medical bay. He looked down at her head – well, mainly her long chocolate brown waves of hair – and chuckled, “Thanks for that, Septhera. Where to?”

“Engineering. That wasn’t a lie.”

McCoy almost stopped dead in his tracks, “Do you know how many stairs are in that place?”

“Calm down, Doctor, I was referring to the cargo hold and warp core area, which is easily accessible via turbolift. I believe that Scotty deserves some cheering up, with the amount of engineers he has recently lost to injuries.”

McCoy grumbled. When he met up with the Chief of Engineering, he was going to ‘cheer him up’ with a piece of his mind. After all, it was the damn engineers that were making his life difficult at the moment. Well, them and the restless captain back at the medical bay.

Septhera then turned and smiled at him, “Cheer up, Doctor. This will be fun.”

Scratch that. The engineers, the captain and the security chief who just knows how to get her own way. _Dammit_ , he mentally scowled, _I’m a doctor. I have better things to do._

***********************

“Yes, yes, yes… Dammit!” Dr Carol Marcus cursed to herself as the wiring zapped her finger. Sucking on her injured finger, she smacked the console in frustration – and it began whirring to life. Grinning to herself, she laid back and look out from where she was lying under the console and saw two feet standing next to her.

“Now that’s what we down ‘ere call ‘The Final Touch’” A fun Scottish accent said as she pushed herself out on the hoverboard.

She smiled up at the sweaty Scotty, “I guess I’m a fast learner.”

She was. Her father had always said so. At that thought, she immediately pushed the image of her father to the back of her head. Standing up, she wiped her own beads of sweat off her forehead.

“How do you have the energy to get all this done?” Carol demanded of the chief engineer as he helped her to her feet.

“Aye only choose the best engineers for this ship. Am aye right?” Scotty said, jovially slapping the shoulder of another engineer welding on the scaffolding on the landing dock, who gave him a thumbs up, “Also kinda helps that aye push these buggers to doing their best.”

“I never picked you for a slave driver.” Carol noted how strange her clear cut London accent sounded in contrast with Scott’s Glaswegian one.

“Aye, well, big surprises come out of unexpected places. _Aye, you!”_ Scotty suddenly shouted up to someone that was hidden from Carol due to the bright lighting, “I can see that _Penthouse XVI_ yah reading! Back tah work, yah lazy sod or at least lemme come and read it up there wit yah!”

There was a scattering of laughter from the lighting. Carol grinned along with them. She may be Science department, but she couldn’t get over the joy-filled atmosphere of Engineering – well, when there wasn’t a crisis on hand. She had been almost grateful when McCoy had relieved her from the sick bay. She had some medical experience, but science was her background. But after all the engineering accidents, they needed all the help they can get, which is why she was being given a crash-course in it with at least six other Science cadets.

“I’m surprised that you still have enough engineers to get some laughter.”

Carol and Scotty turned around to see Dr McCoy pushing Septhera in a wheelchair towards them. Carol raised her eyebrows. She had never seen Dr McCoy venture this far down in the ship before. Septhera looked at her and gave Carol a greeting nod.

“Hello, Dr Marcus, Scotty. How are you both?” Septhera greeted

“Aye, I’m good. Just working double time, what with the being short of hands at the moment.” Scotty pointed out, “How ‘bout you, Thera? How’s your ankle?”

“It is not causing me much hindrance. The doctor has advised me that I should have the cast off tomorrow and doing some physical therapy with it soon.” Septhera replied, “How are you finding Engineering, Dr Marcus?”

“Oh, it is a very… unique experience. But I'm quite enjoying it.” Carol replied, a bit hesitantly. She had a feeling that Septhera wasn’t especially keen on her. Well, that was the general impression that she had gotten after that threat she had made during the episode with the photon torpedo.

_Carol was panicking. She could hear the grunts of Dr McCoy as he tried to free his arm and the whirring of the torpedo as it armed itself. There were voices in her ear, all arguing whether to beam her up or let her attempt to disarm the torpedo. Panic was setting in. She started counting the wires, trying desperately to find the right one. She had to find the right one._

_Or the doctor was a dead man._

_“Disarm it. Now.”_

_She froze. Septhera’s voice, cold and sharp, was speaking directly to her, much louder and clearer than the shouting of everyone else._

_“This is a direct line between us, no one can hear me except you. Now disarm it. Pull out all the wires if you must”_

_“But if I do it-“_

_“Doctor Carol Marcus, right now, one of the closest people I have in the universe is currently stuck to a live torpedo. In about 15 seconds, if you cannot save him, the Enterprise will beam you up and have no choice but to leave him there. If that happens…” There was a small pause, “…I will make you wish that it was you stuck in the torpedo.”_

_The coldness in her voice convinced Carol that it was no idle threat. She looked at the wires. She could hear Sulu doing the countdown in her ear. Septhera’s voice still rang in her head. 5… 4… 3… 2…_

_“Oh, shit!” She finally snapped and pulled out all the wires._

Septhera had never mentioned that day or her threat to her since. Personally, Carol didn’t want to relive it. Once was too much for her own liking.

“What do yah mean it’s my fault?” Carol suddenly turned to see Scotty glaring at McCoy, who was staring back at him, “Do yah think I want my workers outta commission, doc?”

“Yeah, well, as far as I can tell, I haven’t been getting any other department giving me a constant deluge of their subjects in my sick bay.” McCoy growled back at him, “Clearly, you’ve all got some sort of occupational safety issue!”

“Occupational safety issue? This is bloody Engineering! We have nothing but those!”

Septhera rolled her eyes, turning to Carol, “Dr Marcus, if you would be so kind, perhaps you could push us to a far quieter area so that we can give the men their time to ‘vent their anger’?”

Carol, at first stunned by her suggestion, suddenly nodded, “Um, yeah, sure.”

Carol grabbed the back of Septhera’s chair and pushed her towards an area where the sound of drilling and welding drowned out the voices of the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Engineer. It just so happened to be a general resting area, with a makeshift bench which look like it had been shot at with lasers until it melted.

Carol had asked about it and one of the engineers said that the metal was left over from Khan’s attack on the Enterprise two years ago. She didn’t ask any more questions. Carol parked Septhera next to the bench and went to sit down when Septhera suddenly spoke.

“Carol, I think I should extend to you a form of apology.”

Luckily the bench was there, or Carol might have just collapsed to the ground in shock. They had been on their mission for six months now, known it each other for two years – and she was doing this _now_? Carol was immediately suspicious but she didn’t push it.

“Um, what for?” Carol inquired

Septhera looked down at her hands, seeming to be playing with her thumbs as she spoke, “That day with the torpedo – I was not emotionally stable that day. After the loss of… a close friend and the fear that I may lose another, I took out my anger on you while you were in a moment of stress. That was an unfair thing to do and I apologise for my behaviour.”

“It’s understandable,” Carol said when she eventually replied, “You were scared for someone that you love. Every person on this crew would have been like family to you.”

“They are, Doctor.” Septhera replied, still not looking at her, “Sulu and Chekov are like little brothers. Uhura is what I would hope that a sister would be like. Scotty and McCoy are the closest thing that I have to best friends. Actually, I would also consider putting the captain in that category as well.”

At the mention of the captain, Carol froze a little. The penny dropped in her head. Septhera finally looked up and watched her closely, eyeing her little reactions. Carol stood up.

“I think I need to attend to my-”

“Doctor. Please. I need to speak to you about him.”

Carol was defensive, “Why? I didn’t do anything to him.”

“No, I do not believe that you did. But he is on a path which I fear may lead to self-destructive behaviour and you are someone who could provide some clues or hints as to why he is behaving this way.”

A gloved hand reached out and grabbed one of Carol’s. Carol followed the hand up and met Septhera’s dark green eyes. She was begging with her.

“Please. Help me save my friend.”

Carol paused. She had been trying not to think about that night. It was a little embarrassing, and not just for her. But as she watched Septhera’s silently plead with her, she sighed, “OK, Septhera. But you must promise me that you cannot tell another living soul aboard this ship.”

Septhera made the sign that Carol had seen her and Spock do with their hands and said something that she guessed was a vow in Vulcan. With that, Septhera nodded, “Please recount to me the events of that night.”

Carol thought back to the smell of whiskey and gingerbread, “I… I had only just arrived. I had worked late that shift and wished to stay longer but your brother insisted that I should take a break to partake in the festivities too.”

Septhera frowned slightly, “That doesn’t sound usual for Spock.”

“The way he phrased it was, ‘If I must follow the captain’s orders to endure the frivolities of the Christmas holiday, then I am determined to not have to participate in them alone.’”

“…That is definitely in character of Spock.”

Carol gave a smile and continued, “When I arrived with Spock, the captain immediately struck up a conversation with me. At first, I wasn’t really in the mood for his pick up lines but then, after a while- I mean, I hadn’t even drunk any of the alcohol-”

“After some of the McCoy punch, the pick up lines became more mildly pleasing to you.”

Carol raised an eyebrow, “The McCoy punch?”

“That was the terminology that Sulu and Chekov gave the punch after they decided to pour a bottle of the doctor’s favourite scotch in it. I assure you, they were reprimanded severely upon their discovery, taking their punishment in exchange for not informing the doctor that they were the perpetrators of the theft.”

Carol goggled. Well, that explained a lot, “What did they think it was, high school prom?”

“Chekov is not long out of high school. But from what he has told me, he never attended his high school prom.”

Feeling bad almost instantly, Carol quickly pressed on, “Anyway – the captain and I - both of us so drunk out of our skulls - we decided that we would go and …”

She trailed off. Septhera raised an expectant eyebrow. God, this was humiliating. Carol sighed, “…find the mistletoe.”

She swore she swore the flash of a smirk grace Septhera’s lips before it returned to a straight neutral line, “I presume that when you left to… ‘find the mistletoe’, that this was when problems occurred?”

Carol leaned back into the chair, scratching the back of her head, “…How familiar are you with how humans have intercourse?”

“It is physiologically identical to Vulcans. And I am knowledgeable in both.”

Carol looked a little surprised, “Oh. So you-?”

“I said knowledgeable, not experienced.” Septhera deadpanned. Although the rest of her demeanour didn’t give away her embarrassment, a tinge of green appeared high up on her cheekbones.

“Oh. Right.” Carol shook her head, trying to remove herself from that awkward moment, “Anyway, we found a nearby closet room, we started getting frisky and he was already really drunk- and he just…”

Carol frowned, not sure how she should explain it. Septhera, tinge now gone, leaned forward expectantly, “Did he do something wrong?”

“Oh, no, no. He was… very involved in the process. And so was I. But Jim, he… uh…he couldn't-”

It was like a light bulb went off behind Septhera’s eyes, “Jim wasn’t as involved as he could be, was he? He couldn’t maintain an erection?”

“Shhh!” Carol looked around quickly, to make sure no one heard, “Septhera, I don’t know if you are aware, but it may be embarrassing for people if others discovered that they’re having issues when it comes to sex.”

Septhera raised an eyebrow, “Yes, I have noticed that your status as a human is often linked to your experience and skills when it comes to intercourse.”

Carol continued, ignoring the security chief's bluntness, “Anyway, after about… 3 or 4 minutes, there was nothing and then… he kind of passed out.”

“Jim Kirk… passed out… _before_ engaging in sexual intercourse?”, Septhera’s raised her eyebrows in disbelief

Carol nodded, still making sure no one was in hearing distance, “Yes. So I got dressed, left him a note that I had returned to the party and left him there. Not exactly my finest moment.”

Septhera eyed her closely, “And that is all that occurred?”

 _No_ , Carol’s inner voice muttered. She pushed it to the back of her head and told it to shut up.

“Yes. That is the big mystery.”

Septhera was still eyeing her closely. A sweat broke out on Carol’s neck. She was starting to get the paranoid feeling that she was attempting to read her mind when a voice broke through the background noises of the drilling.

“Goddammit, where is that girl? I leave her alone for five seconds and she disappears – in a damn wheelchair!”

“Aye, she is a sneaky little bu- Doctor, there she is!”

Scotty and McCoy emerged from the steam off a nearby pipe. Scotty was grinning from ear to ear. Carol didn’t believe she could recall a moment knowing him when he wasn’t smiling in some form. McCoy was glaring at Septhera, who raised a cool eyebrow at him.

“Were you having fun, Septhera?” McCoy demanded

“Yes, I have had a splendid conversation.” Septhera turned and nodded to Carol, “I am afraid that my nanny needs to take me back to my room now. It has been good speaking to you, Doctor.”

Scotty was laughing as McCoy looked ready to burst a blood vessel. Carol watched as he grabbed the chair and pushed her away, ranting to his patient, “Nanny? I’ll give you a goddamn nanny. Oh, you won’t find it so funny when I bring out the 21st Century needles!”

Septhera merely laughed at his increasing frustration. Carol felt bad that, after Septhera was being open with her, she had concealed something. But that is something that she may have to take to her grave. Jim Kirk was a good captain and man. She may not be able to look him in the eye, but she respected him far too much to let such information get loose amongst the ship.

She looked up into one of the lights and sighed before following Scotty to learn how to mend a leaky coolant in the warp core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, kudos, etc. :)
> 
> I want to try and put Carol in the story more, so do expect more from her POV. Also, Chekov and Sulu will be getting their own POVs eventually, I promise!


	6. Truths That Draw A Tear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhura overhears a conversation between the Vulcan siblings. Scotty finds her later going to town on the target practice field. What did she hear?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! Here's another chapter! This is easily one of my favourites - more Schura! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Over the next two days, Uhura developed a routine: go to her shift, complete her shift, head down to fire her phaser in the shooting range and then return to her quarters for sleep (or, in reality, tossing and turning in her bed and trying to make her brain stop thinking). She hadn’t spoken to Spock since she told him to get out. If he needed anything from her while he was on shift, she did it without speaking a word to him. Uhura didn’t mind her time in the range though: Scotty turned up once more and they had a competition to see how many targets they could hit before a shot rebounded. It is quite an exhilarating moment when you dive down to avoid the shot as it comes flying back at you.

At lunch break, however, Uhura was weighing up the risk to go visit Septhera. She hadn’t done it since she had run off to avoid Jim and felt bad that she hadn’t gone to find out how she was doing. But after the way she had spoke to the captain and the anger she had felt – it had even scared herself a little – she was doing her best to avoid a confrontation with him as much as she could. When Uhura cautiously approached the sick bay, the door suddenly opened and Nurse Chapel exited out, another nurse – Nurse Flijnor, Uhura tried to remember – by her side. They paused as they saw Uhura approaching.

“Hello, Nyota.” Nurse Chapel greeted her

“Christine. Is Septhera-?”

“She’s just meditating at the moment. But she should be done at any moment.”

Uhura nodded, “Thank you.”

Christine suddenly turned around back to the door, “Doctor McCoy, we’re going now.”

“…Have fun.”

“Doctor!”

Five seconds later, Dr McCoy trudged out of the medical bay, his face more sour than usual.

“Why are making me do this? I’m quite happy eating in my – Hello, Uhura.” He cut off as he greeted her.

“You’ve barely been out of the medical bay for the past three days. You need some human interaction and you’re driving both me and Dr M’Benga crazy. This’ll be good for you.” Christine insisted

“A week on a deserted island with a case of twenty-year-old scotch will be good for me.” McCoy muttered, “…And I still haven’t found the little bastards that stole one of my bottles.”

“Well, you can use your time in the cafeteria to suss them out.”

McCoy then glanced back into the medical bay, looking hesitant. Clearly at the end of her tether, Nurse Chapel and the other nurse grabbed the doctor by an arm each and started to drag him.

“After all the time that he spent trying to get out of those restraints, the captain’ll be out like a light for the next three hours at least!” the other nurse told him

“And also, M’Benga is still there. He can handle if he makes an escape attempt.” Nurse Chapel agreed, “Now, come on!”

“Alright, alright! I’m going!” McCoy threw his hands up in surrender, “All you nurses are so pushy.”

“We learn from our bosses.” Nurse Chapel turned to Uhura and nodded, “See you later.”

“I guess it’d be too much to hope that you need me for an emergency appendix removal, huh?” McCoy asked Uhura, his eyes silently pleading for help.

Uhura gave him a small smile and shook her head, “Enjoy lunch, doctor, nurses.”

As the scowling doctor and nurses headed down the corridor, Uhura entered the medical bay. She glanced in the corner of the room to see the captain asleep on his bed. His free arm was restrained to the bedside with duct tape. They had given the same treatment to his feet, binding them together with duct tape, before using rope to tie them to the railings. She momentarily wondered where they got all the equipment from before turning her attention away. M’Benga was seeing over an engineer, who was still unconscious after the walkway collapse – the worst case they have had so far. Uhura thought it was quite worrying how many accidents were occurring in Engineering lately – far more than they usually had – before M’Benga looked up and saw her.

“Oh, Lieutenant Uhura.” M’Benga gestured to Septhera’s bed, “She’ll be up soon.”

“Thanks.” Uhura nodded.

Uhura walked over to Septhera’s bed and sat down on the surprisingly vacant one next to it. The young Vulcan hybrid was sitting on the bed, one leg tucked under her, the other – the one with the cast-free ankle – stretched out in front and she looked eerily still, completely oblivious to the world outside her head.

As Uhura glanced at her friend, the feeling of loneliness suddenly hit her. She had never felt so alone before. A small part of Uhura, the little child in her brain which has been hidden by steely gazes and sharp words, wanted to curl into a ball and cry. The need to talk to someone – to have them understand – burnt in her stomach. But her pride refused to even look at that as an idea of action.

Suddenly she heard words through the comms of one of the medical consoles, _“Bridge to Medical, this is acting Captain Spock.”_

M’Benga paused in his work and walked over to the console, “Yes, Mr Spock?”

_“Is the captain unconscious, Dr M’Benga?”_

“He’s out like a light, sir.”

_“Good. I will be checking in to the medical bay in 3.25 minutes, Doctor. I will see you shortly.”_

Uhura panicked. She was definitely not ready to see her boyfriend at the moment. She looked around quickly and found the curtain, pushed to the corner next to the empty bed. In a split second decision, she pulled at it, concealing herself and the bed in one swift pull.

She cursed her behaviour. She was behaving like a child, but she couldn’t bring herself to act as she knew she should. She was scared. She didn’t know why, but she recognised the fear inside her chest.

She will address it. She knew she had to. But she couldn’t. Not now.

There was the sound of the door opening. Uhura’s breath caught in her throat.

“Doctor.”

“Hello, Mr Spock. Your sister is with – Oh, that’s strange. Lieutenant Uhura was just here.”

“Uhura?” There was a curious infliction in his voice, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. She came to see Septhera. Guess she’s gone now. Anyway, Septhera’s resting for the moment. The captain has been... refrained from activity.”

“I see. A tactic that was approved by Dr McCoy, no doubt?”

“Of course. It’s his idea, actually. It’s too dangerous to just keep sedating him when he gets annoying and attempts to run off.”

“Typically, my opinion would be that this may be unnecessary precautions, but I am inclined to agree with his methods. How is his progress despite his ... escape attempts?”

“Well, his collarbone would be completely healed if he didn’t make life difficult. However, we don’t believe that the injury has been drastically aggravated. The bandages should be ready to come off tomorrow.”

“That is satisfying.” There was an undercurrent of relief in his voice.

“I should say so. He’s starting to grate on my nerves as well.”

Uhura swivelled her head to the sound of the new voice. Septhera had come back from her meditations.

“I will leave you two alone.” M’Benga said. Uhura listened to his footsteps as he walked away. There were a second set of footsteps, lighter ones, as Spock approached Septhera’s bedside. Uhura sat on the bed, feet curled up in the foetal position, as she watched her boyfriend’s shadow against the curtain. He stood at the end of Septhera’s bed as she spoke.

“Hello, brother.”

“How are you progressing, sister?”

“Doctor McCoy has informed me that the cast should be removed as early as tomorrow morning. I will, of course, begin the required physical therapy to ensure that my ankle will be able to support my weight and there is no permanent damage to any ligaments or the bone itself.”

“That is pleasing news.”

There was a pause. Uhura focused on keeping her breath relaxed, make it sound like she was a sleeping patient, as she strained her ears to listen.

“Brother, while I do not deny that your concern for my welfare is genuine, I am gathering the impression that there is a more pressing issue on your mind that the progression of my ankle’s mending.”

Another pause. Uhura watched the silhouette of Spock turn his head, looking around the medical bay, before he moved to sit down on the side of the bed closest to Uhura.

“You presume correct, sister. I am concerned for the welfare of Uhura and am… conflicted about the progress of our established relationship.”

Septhera’s shadow sat a little straighter, “Tell me your troubles.”

“Firstly, I am almost certain that Uhura is angry at me due to my opinions of logic strongly contrasting her emotional opinions.”

Uhura bit down on her fist. God, he was completely missing the point!

“Brother, Uhura is angry due to your inconsideration to the fact that she may wish to spend more time with you. As I am sure you are aware, brother, Uhura is quite stressed at the moment. The cause of this, I am not too certain of, and the best thing for you to do is to be with her and to allow her to express her emotions without telling her that what she is feeling is illogical.”

Uhura froze. How the hell did she know that? Uhura silently thanked every deity that Septhera had been at least five floors down when she had been with Kirk.

Spock paused for a moment, “…You say that instead of expressing my opinions on her opinions, I should endure the sounding of her opinions and leave my own to go unrecognised?”

There was a smack as Septhera hit his arm, “If you listen to me now, you would know that I am not suggesting that. If you disagree with her, tell her in a way that will not make her instantly defensive and infuriate her. Brother, we have discussed the intriacies of human etiquette before. But that aside, what exactly do you disagree with her about?”

“I disagree with the notion that we don’t spend a satisfactory amount of time together. We work on the bridge within close proximity of each other, which accounts for 90.32% of our time spent on a weekly basis and I am quite satisfied with the remaining 10.63% that is spent together during our assigned hours of leisure. But is this not the right answer?”

Uhura stared at the curtain. They barely spent any time together out of work. She saw him twice a week, if she was lucky. Most of the time, he spent his time with Kirk or Septhera or in the Science lab or working an extra shift on the bridge. Was this how he really felt?

“No, brother, it is your opinion. You have a right to it. You need to find a way to politely explain this to Uhura without appearing patronising or offensive.” Septhera explained, “However, Spock – you must be aware that the time you spend with Uhura is quite minimal by romantic interaction standards?”

“I do not believe so. As I have previously stated, we are within close proximity during our coinciding shifts, I engage with her in leisure activities outside our scheduled shifts and those nights, we adjourn to either her quarters or mine and often partake in sexual intercourse-”

“Brother.” Septhera’s shadow hand suddenly came up, “While I am happy to discuss and assist you in your relationship troubles, please refrain from mentioning you participating in sexual intercourse. The mental image I am given makes me uncomfortable and, honestly, quite ill”

Uhura mentally thanked Septhera for stopping that right there. She could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks at the mention of her sex life with Spock.

“I apologise. I shall attempt to omit those details.” Spock replied neutrally

“Thank you. Spock – I wish to ask you: are you happy with Uhura?”

Uhura’s blood turned to ice. Her heart twisted in her chest. She wanted to scream and put her hands over her ears and run. But she remained stuck on the bed, her hug around her knees tightening, unable to do anything but listen.

“I am quite pleased with our relationship, both as friends and in... other terms.”

“That’s not what I asked, Spock. Are you happy with Uhura?”

There was a pause. When Spock didn’t answer, Septhera leaned back, “Do not mistake me, I love Uhura. She is a sister in my eyes and a great friend and advisor. When I first met her as your girlfriend, you two were happy and you were both quite compatible. But you have both grown and changed now, Spock. You have different priorities, interest, lives and you need to marry them together to make your relationship work. I think what you should truly be contemplating, Brother, is how this relationship should evolve to accommodate both you and Uhura.”

There was silence. Uhura strained her ears. Spock then finally spoke.

“You make valid and logical points, sister. I shall take them into consideration before my next conversation with Uhura. Thank you.”

“I am happy to be of assistance.” Septhera replied, “I regret that I should cut our conversation short. The captain should not long awaken and I don’t think he has quite forgiven your neglect to protect him from Doctor McCoy when you escorted him back to the medical bay yesterday.”

“Agreed. I must return to the bridge and continue my duties regardless. I shall come and see you in a timely fashion, my sister.”

“See you soon, brother.”

With that, Spock stood up and walked away. There was a couple of seconds as the footsteps faded, stopped and then continued until the door opened and shut behind them. Then there was silence. Uhura was stiff on the bed, unable to move. Her chest hurt, her lungs burned. She then released the breath that she had been holding and the ache eased a little. But it still hurt. Everything hurt. She couldn’t make it stop.

“Nyota. Are you alright?”

Uhura stood up and pulled open the curtain to see Septhera looking directly at her. Her Vulcan face betrayed no emotion, frozen into the mask that Septhera usually reserved for battle, but her eyes were torn. They reflected Uhura’s emotions back at her.

She needed to get out. She needed some air. Uhura headed for the door, passing a startled M’Benga on her way, and kept running.

 ***********************

“Sonova- damn, that hurt tah buggery.”

Scotty cursed to himself as another loose bolt hit his thumb, sending a jolt of pain through his hand. Alternating between shaking and sucking it, Scotty mingled his mental curses with the numbing sense of worry that kept niggling at the back of his head. His baby was falling apart at the seams and not only was it causing more work, it was getting his people hurt. Very hurt. If he kept twiddling his thumbs – well, thumb. The other was temporarily recovering – then he was going to get worse than a whacked head. Someone could die.

“Mr Scott?”

“Aye, wha’ is it?” Scotty spoke through his thumb, turning around as he did. The gleam off his sparkling teeth and his perfectly spiked-without-gel hair introduced himself before Scotty even got a good look at his face. Ensign Tyler Martin. One of the new cadets they were given after the whole Khan business. He was what, 30, 31? Not much older than Septhera. Good man, quite smart and had a smile which could charm the pants off any lady within a 100 metre radius. And from some of the looks he had seen some of his female crew – his male crew too, come to think of it – send in his direction, that was definitely an idea they had in mind.

“Hey, Tyler. Please donnae tell me that anything else is busted. My poor thumbs cannae take anymore.”

Tyler shook his head. Scotty was immediately concerned of another casualty – the cadet’s usual grin was nowhere on his chiselled face, “No, sir. I was just coming to inform you that the lieutenant communications woman has been firing in the range for the past twenty minutes and some people are quite concerned.”

“Uhura?” Scotty frowned. She had been coming down here lately. Personally, he was quite worried for her. He had heard about the entire hullabaloo with Spock and the word on the grapevine was that, after the landing mission, she hadn’t been looking too good. When she came downstairs to use the firing range, Scotty feared that he may be making things worse.

But when he saw her firing the phaser and how much she was enjoying it, Scotty decided to let her at it. Her laugh during their first session – he didn’t think he had ever heard her laugh like that before. And when she smiled, it made him feel good that he may be doing her some good too.

Maybe he was wrong.

“Alright, Tyler. Can yah keep the other cadets away from the firin’ range until I get back? Are there any security fellas down there?”

“There were. They kinda left when they saw the lieutenant coming.”

_Oh, Christ._ Scotty nodded and hurried off at a quick jog. He skidded to a stop when he reached a walkway that overlooked the firing range and watched. Uhura was firing at the targets seamlessly. She wasn’t gonna stop for Armageddon itself if it happened. He couldn’t see her face too well from here but he could see from the way she was firing that phaser, she wasn’t happy. But he could also see the problem with her not pausing – she wasn’t stopping to see if the wall rebound them back. If it did, there would be no way she could stop it.

Slowly, he walked down the stairs and cautiously began to approach her, like he was approaching a lion in a cage. Scotty didn’t want to startle her, in case she turned around and zapped him on instinct. But he couldn’t let her endanger herself like this.

“Uhura?” he called out, gently at first. There was no answer, “Uhura? Uhura!”

She paused in her firing, letting the last one hit the middle target and fizzle into nothing. She didn’t turn around, she didn’t move. She just stood there in dead silence. When he thought back on this, Scotty pinpointed it as the time he was most frightened. But not of her. He was scared _for_ her.

“Uhura, lass, put down the phaser. A good firin’ is fun and all, but you arenae stoppin’ to watch for rebounds. And that’s dangerous to you.” Scotty replied, “Uhura? Uhura, can you look at meh?”

It was like slow motion. The phaser went down first, tick by tick. Then she began to turn around. The first thing that Scotty noticed was the gleam of the light off the tear that rolled down her cheek. Her eyes were shut, as she was forcing them to not cry, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Scotty was stunned by this. Uhura was such a strong woman. He had only ever seen her cry once – when Kirk died in the radiation chamber. He had held her as she cried in his shoulder.

Scotty held out his hand and spoke, “Look, lassie. Aye donnae know what’s wrong and if you donnae think aye should know, that is fair enough. It’s your business. But donnae expect me to stand here and let you cry. Because aye wonnae stand for it. Please... Nyota...”

On her name, Uhura opened her eyes. Her dark eyes, the colour of rich dark chocolate, were clouded over with unshed tears. And Scotty could see her pain. Her anger. Her fear. He opened up his arms in a welcoming gesture and she walked towards them. Her walk was almost robotic, almost numb, but her arms wouldn’t stop shaking, even as Scotty wrapped his around her. As he hugged her tightly, he could feel all of her shaking.

“Shhh, come on, it’s alright. Sometimes, yah just need a good ol’ cry, right?” Uhura remained stiff in his arms, “How ‘bout I take yah back to my office – small little dingy thing, yeah, but it’s quite private and you can stay there for a while if yah want? I will let yah lock the door and tell anybody who disturbs yah that they will be hung upside down from their socks to the highest pipes and have tah clean them with their toothbrushes.”

There was a gurgled sound from Uhura that Scotty recognised as a giggle. He grinned, “Yeah, knew yah’d like that one. I can tell yah some more doozeys I’va thought of on our way back to the office. Now, wipe those ayes. C’mon. Cannae have all my lot seeing it.”

Uhura nodded firmly, pulled back from him and tried to wipe her eyes with her hands. Scotty reached inside his pocket and found an old rag. Not the cleanliest piece of cloth in the galaxy, but it should do.

“Here.”

Uhura looked down at the rag and, after a moment’s hesitation, took it. She wiped her face clean and kept her head buried in it for a couple of seconds. When she finally pulled back out of it, her face was professional and hardened – you would only be able to tell she was crying from all the red in her eyes. She went to give the rag back to Scotty. He shook his head.

“Keep it, lass. It’s not like I ainnae got more.” Scotty gestured in front of him, “Ladies first?”

She nodded and went first, Scotty following not long after her. He had been tempted to gather her in his arms and lead the way, but that wasn’t who Uhura was. She wasn’t some doe-eyed lass with more bosom than brains. She deserved respect and Scotty wasn’t going to undermine that with his protective nature.

It didn’t stop him giving anyone who was staring at her the stink-eye as they walked past. It was a good exercise – it let him choose who was going to be on the sewerage roster for the next three weeks.

When they reached the tiny thing that Scotty called an office, not far from the landing bay, Scotty opened the door first and let her in, before closing it behind her. He typed in the code for the automated blinds, shutting off his miniscule thing of a window, and ordered the lights on. It lit up a small blue washed room, with a tiny desk with a screen on it, a datapad next to it and one shelf sitting above it. When he was done, he turned around to see Uhura looking at his shelf.

Scotty had put it up after he first got assigned to the ship. He had gotten his personal effects off Delta Vega when they picked up Keenser – the guy may be a thorn in his toe but he couldn’t just leave him to freeze his cabbage leaves off back there. It was an assortment of nonsensical knick knacks, really.

“What’s this?” Uhura asked as she pulled a trophy off it, with a golden wrench sitting on top, “Hover Kart Races – Mechanic Special Mention?”

“My, uh, pop made that fah me when I was nine.” Scotty scratched the back of his head, “My sister and I entered the local races back in Aberdeen. She drove the kart, I help build it and she won. But there ainnae a prize for the sod who makes the kart. It was a good ol’ thing, too. I took our toaster and my, uh, nan’s toaster, and rebuilt them so that they’d shoot out marbles on one side and jacks on the other.”

Uhura giggled. Scotty shook his head, remembering back, “Yeah, me ma wasn’t too happy with me afta that.”

Uhura put the trophy back and pulled off a picture of a wonkily drawn Enterprise, “A little artist in you?”

“My niece, Dannan. Cheeky brat, that one. Doesn’t like being told no.” Scotty grinned to himself, “When I told her that she cannae come on the mission with me, she tied mah shoelaces together and ran off with mah scotch. I thought she was gonna wet herself when she saw me fall.”

Uhura laughed properly at that one, putting it back on the shelf, “You must miss your family.”

“Yes, but meh scotch stays in one place now.” Scotty grinned to himself, “Yeah, though. But aye do. Aye do.”

Uhura turned to Scotty. The corners of her lips were still twitched up in a half smile. Her eyes, still red, were now brighter than he had seen in the past few days. She opened her mouth to talk and it turned into a giant yawn.

“You trying tah swallow me whole, Uhura?” he joked, “When’s the last time yah got a good night’s rest?”

Uhura shook her head, “No, I’m good. Just a little exhausted. Shooting – it takes… a lot out of me.”

“Ah – ha.” Scotty was sceptical, “Office, get me bed out.”

The wall opposite his desk suddenly slide up and his bed fell out ungracefully, landing on the floor with a loud _thunk_ , startling both Uhura and Scotty. He glared at the wall.

“Useless tech. I gotta fix that screw.” Scotty muttered to himself before looking at Uhura, “Look, I got a feelin’ that in yah own bed; yah might not feel like sleepin’. Take a nap, I’ll come back in a few hours. I still got a walkway that needs fixin; and five core reactors that need my urgent attention before dinnar.”

“Oh, Scotty, I couldn’t –” Uhura began

“Like hell yah cannae. I donnae if you’ve seen a mirror lately, but yah eyes are goin’ a nice indigo. Sleep. I’ll lock tha door and let yah rest. And since you’re a lieutenant and I’m a lieutenant commander, I outrank you so that’s an order, lass.” Scotty nodded as if that is that.

Uhura raised an eyebrow at him. He immediately felt a hot flush on the back of his collar. She looked at the bed, as if seeing if it would be alright to sleep it. Yeah, it creaked when you rolled left but, all in all, it wasn’t a bad bed. It’s not like it had Melvaren mud fleas in it.

She turned to him and gave a small smile, “Thank you, Scotty.”

He shrugged, “Hey, it’s alright. Anything to help.”

With that, Scotty turned and quickly left the room. Once the door slid shut behind him, he wanted to hit his head against it. Damn. Damn. Damn it all to the black hole of Vulcan. He wanted to help her. He needed to help her. But how in blazes was he going to be able to do that? He wasn’t a psychiatrist or a doctor or even a woman!

However…

Scotty pulled out his communicator, “Dr Marcus, my lovely lassie, come in please.”

There was a pause before Carol’s voice replied, “ _Yes, Mr Scott? Do you wish to see me?_ ”

“Not at tha moment. Um, I just need yah to do me a small favour…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, kudos, etc! Tell me what you think!


	7. Lean On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One-on-one conversations are had and Kirk and Uhura face some hard truths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe that it's been so long! I finally finished the next chapter!
> 
> Let me know what you think! Comment and kudos if you like.

Jim awoke with a start. He’d been dreaming again. He couldn’t remember the details, slipping through his mental grasp like smoke. But he already knew the starring role had belonged to a handsome dark-haired Vulcan with a twitch of a smile and shining eyes. He groaned.

“Captain.”

He looked to see Septhera seated in a chair next to his bed, a crutch leaning against her. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there, but he could tell – she’d been waiting for him.

“Good to see you are awake. How is your collarbone?”

He sat up, instinctively clutching his bad shoulder as he did, before he realised that he could move his good arm. As if to answer his unspoken question, Septhera held up a ball of used and torn duct tape, “I took the initiative of liberating you from the confines M’Benga inflicted upon you while you rested. If you indulge my insistence at conversation, I will inform Doctor McCoy that he does not need to introduce such measures again.”

Jim chuckled, “Honestly, I didn’t think he’d actually do it. You know, all bark, no bite?”

“You underestimated your opponent. That does not sound like you.”

“Yeah, well. People change.”

“Not in their instincts.” Septhera didn’t alter her gaze, just watching him like she expected something, “Do not be hard on the doctor, Jim. He has only had one sleep shift really since we have been incapacitated. Regardless of what you believe, he is really trying to get you back to ideal health. It took all of the efforts of the medical team to encourage him to relinquish his duty for a short while and partake in lunch.”

Jim looked down at his feet. He’d be shuffling them if he was standing. He knew all this. He knew he was been unfair on Bones with all his escape attempts. He just – he hated being in here. He didn’t want to be here. If he needed to rest, fine, leave him in his quarters. Just get him out of the sick bay – out of the place that smelt like disinfectant and wouldn’t let him take a whizz without making sure he wasn’t going to keel over halfway to the lavatory.

God, he hated this place.

A hand reached out and touched his leg. Jim looked up as Septhera, now standing and leaning against her crutch, looked at him. Her mouth was curved in the minutest way upwards. Although Septhera and Spock were very different people, he couldn’t help but see small traces of her brother in her face. He imagined what it would look like if he ever saw him smile properly.

“Jim, I am concerned for your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.”

Jim frowned. Oh, great, not her too, “I’m all good, Septhera. See, my collarbone feels fine. It’ll be all good tomorrow and I can get back to doing all the things I’m good at.”

“Getting drunk?”

Ouch. That was a low blow. Septhera realised the way she’d spoken and moved her hand, “I apologise, Jim. I did not mean to be so blunt in my manner. I have just noticed how your casual interest in alcoholic beverages has turned into something which is typically identified as an addiction.”

“I’m not addicted, Septhera.” Jim sighed. God, he was starting to sound like Bones.

Septhera eyed him sharply. Jim thought she was going to launch into a lecture. Instead, she simply nodded, “I will not push you further on the matter. But I strongly recommend to you, James-“

Shit, James. She only called him that when she was really serious.

“Please seek out assistance for whatever is troubling you. If not assistance, then support.”

Jim watched Septhera turn and begin her return to her bed when he suddenly found himself speaking up, “If there was...”

She stopped and turned back. Crap. Why the hell did he have to talk? Septhera wasn’t stupid! She was gonna figure it out. But Septhera was already looking at him expectantly and he didn’t know what else to do.

Screw it.

“...If there was something wrong, something that you can’t get out of your head - no matter how hard you try and… and you know doing something about it could destroy someone’s life... what is the answer?”

Septhera eyed him. Jim swore he could hear the calculations of her brain whizzing through her skull. He held his breath. It was like their chess games. Nothing as intense as games with Spock, but she was just as devastating an opponent. He would accidentally leave open a vulnerability and she would manipulate it, taking out his king from behind. Something he really should expect from a trained assassin in all but name.

Now it was her move. What was she going to do?

“I do not have an answer for that, Jim. I apologise.” Septhera looked pensive for a moment, “However, if I do find such an answer, I will immediately inform you.”

Jim paused, taking in what she said, before nodding, “Thanks...”

Septhera turned away. Jim suddenly grinned, “...Seppy.”

He had three seconds to duck as Septhera’s communicator suddenly came flying at his head, hitting the wall behind him and bouncing off with a loud thud. Jim had to give it to the thing – he was amazed how good condition it was in considering how often it was thrown in his direction. It only had a few scratches and a chip off the metal cover.

And of course Bones had to walk in just as the damn thing rebounded off the wall onto the back of Jim’s head.

Bones looked at the minor dent in the Starship wall, the communicator now next to Jim on the bed, Jim rubbing the back of his sore head and the daringly cocked eyebrow of Septhera as she watched and just groaned.

“Goddammit, can’t I leave you two alone for a moment?”

Jim got himself comfortable against his pillow, wincing momentarily at a small pain in his shoulder, and leaned back, “Bones. Go and get some sleep.”

Bones’ jaw almost hit the ground, “What?”

“You heard me, Bones. M’Benga has it covered up here and you look damn tired. Go and get some rest.”

The doctor snorted, “Yeah, and leave you to your own devices.”

“The captain has promised to remain in the medical bay until he is cleared for duty tomorrow.” Septhera stepped forward, her focus now on Bones, “And as I am now in a position to perform my duties more effectively, I will be ensuring that the captain keeps to his promise.”

Bones’ expression showed that he was sceptical of that. Septhera turned to Jim, “Captain?”

Jim blinked at Septhera before looking at his best friend and actually saw him for the first time in the past three days. Purple rings pulled at his eyes, his shoulders looked ready to give out from the weight of responsibility crumbling the doctor. Jim sighed.

He really was the worst friend ever.

“I’m not going to go anywhere. I promise, Bones.”

Something in the way Jim said it must have convinced him, because Bones’ posture immediately relaxed and he fought to suppress a yawn, “I – ugh – I guess I could take a nap. Wouldn’t – oh – kill me.”

Septhera limped over to Bones, “I’ll ensure that you reach your quarters in a timely manner, Doctor.”

“Thera, I know my own way to my quarters.” Bones protested

“Affirmative. But I also wish to ensure that your rest remains undisturbed and I have the expertise to block all communications for the next ten hours.”

Bones raised an eyebrow at her, “You know, if you just want to leave the med bay, you can just say.”

Septhera’s mouth twitched as the two left the med bay together, leaving Jim alone in the place he absolutely hated. Jim laid back on his bed and sighed. Now what to do?

He lowered his good arm and felt his fingers brush against something solid. He grinned to himself as he picked up Septhera’s communicator.

Time for some fun.

***********************

Carol checked her watch. Damn, she was late. She clutched the soda bottles tightly and looked around. Engineering was usually the busiest part of the ship. Where the hell was everybody?

She had promised Scotty that she would bring Uhura something to drink when she got off her shift. But after Carol had went and got the drinks, that was when she remembered – she had absolutely no idea where Scotty’s office was. She had gone to a general area where she thought there would be someone to give her directions, but it was like a ghost town with the exception of the occasional steam shooting out of the pipes.

A weight suddenly pushed into her back, almost sending Carol toppling forward. As she fell, a strong arm wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her back up, before immediately letting her go. She let out a breath of relief, turning around.

“Oh, thanks. I don’t know what it is about me these last few days. I’m such a -”

The breath went out of her as she saw her ‘saviour’. A young man, probably about five or six years younger than her, in an Engineering uniform, with amazing dark hair. He flashed her 10,000-watt smile at her, looking almost shy. This man had nothing to be shy about. This was when Carol remembered that she had been talking.

“-klutz.” She smiled at him, praying to God that her hair wasn’t in the catastrophic mess that it had been in the last few days, “Thank you, again.”

“It was no problem.” His voice was deep, gruff, and all around completely matched his handsome physique, “I didn’t see you through the steam. It was my fault. Sorry.”

“No, no, no, it’s OK.” Carol shook her head, “But, um, if you do want to make it up to me, maybe you could help me? I’m looking for Scotty’s office and –”

The man snapped his fingers in realisation, “That’s right; you’re from the Science department. I kinda forgot about that. After seeing you working down here, you seem right at home.”

“You’ve seen me about?” Carol raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Well, yeah. It’s not every day we get someone like you down here. Wait, that didn’t sound right. What I meant – Oh, damn, I always do this.”

Carol just laughed as he stumbled over his words, “It’s OK. I’ll take the compliment.”

He gave her a grin. She forced her legs to not wobbly like a teenager when he spoke up, “So, did you want me to show you Scotty’s office?”

“Oh, yes, please.” Carol nodded.

She stood to the side and let him walk past her, following next to him as he guided her through the many stairs and walkways of Engineering. Carol decided to strike up some conversation so that it didn’t get awkward.

“Soooo, you seem pretty young to be an engineer.”

“You seem pretty young to be a scientist.”

Carol laughed again, “I’m not that young.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

Their eyes met. Carol ignored the blush that wanted to grace her cheeks, “Dr Carol Marcus. I didn’t catch your name.”

He smiled back at her, “Ensign Tyler Martin. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr Marcus.”

“Carol is fine.”

Tyler nodded and then stopped, pointing down the stairs, “The first door just to the left. It’s tiny, but you can’t miss it.”

“Oh.” Carol was a little disappointed, “Well, thank you very much. I’ll see you around then, will I?”

“You can count on it.” Tyler nodded, “See you around, Carol.”

With that, he turned around and walked back the way they came, leaving Carol to remember how to use her legs and to make them walk her down the stairs. Tyler had been right; she couldn’t miss the tiny office. The small window of it was blinded shut and the door was locked. Gently, she knocked on the door.

“Uhura, are you in there? It’s me, Carol.”

There was silence. Then three seconds later, the door slid open. Carol had to use all the self-control she had not to make her shock evident on her face. She looked well rest – her usual ponytail was replaced loose waves around her shoulders. But there were dark bags under her eyes and from just looking at her, Carol knew that whatever was wrong with Uhura was getting worse.

“Hi, Carol. How’d you know I was here?” Uhura asked, her eyes darting from side to side. She looked almost paranoid.

“Um, Scotty was going to bring you something to drink but, um, he got tangled up with some wires so he asked me to do it.” Carol held up the drinks, “I thought it’d be a good chance just to relax. I haven’t really done much since I was transferred down here.”

Uhura eyed them before gingerly reaching out and grabbing one, stepping to the side, “Come in.”

As she entered the room, Uhura called out, “Lights!” and the lights in Scotty’s office went on. Wow, the man really didn’t need much. Just a desk and a shelf with many little knick-knacks on it, plus a bed which probably pulled into the wall.

Uhura walked over to the bed, the blankets rumpled. Carol saw that they matched Uhura’s loose, slightly erratic new hairdo. So she had been sleeping. But why not do that in her own quarters? Why come to Scotty’s?

“So, did you have a nice rest?” Carol asked politely

Uhura looked startled out of her thinking before she replied, “Um, yeah. Scotty told me to catch a few winks of sleep. Um, it is quite busy upstairs at the moment so I haven’t been able to get some peace.”

Uh-uh. Carol wasn’t a fool. She knew when someone was lying to her. After her father, she was extra vigilante to look out for the warning signs of deception. Carol didn’t let her scepticism show as she turned to look around the room again. She pointed at a beaten-up old trophy sitting proudly on the shelf, “I didn’t know Scotty ever won anything.”

Uhura laughed, sitting down on the bed, “No, um, he told me that his pop made it for him when he was a kid.”

“Pop? Like his father or his grandfather?”

Uhura went to speak but paused. She looked thoughtful, “…I have no idea.”

Carol let out a laugh while Uhura just smiled to herself. The mood of the room immediately lightened. It was a shame that Carol was about to ruin it, sitting down on the bed next to her.

“Nyota, what’s going on?”

Before Uhura could protest, Carol quickly interjected, “No, don’t say nothing. You have looked like shit for close to a week now. I didn’t want to ask before, because it’s not my place, but I’m getting really concerned now.”

She grabbed Uhura’s free hand with her own and looked at her, pleadingly, “Please. Just talk to me.”

Uhura looked torn. Then she sighed, defeatedly, “I – I just can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what, sweetie?”

Carol watched Uhura breathe deeply, “I – I can’t – he just – ”

Whatever she was trying to say, she was literally forcing them out. Carol let go of Uhura’s hand and put her arm around her, “Nyota. It’s okay, take your time.”

Deep intake. “Idon’tthinkSpocklovesmeanymore.”

“Sorry, can you please repeat that?”

She was now shaking, but Uhura took the time to enounciate each word clearly, “I. Don’t. Think… That Spock L-loves me. Anymore.”

Oh, shit. Carol immediately pulled Uhura into a better side hug, “Oh, honey. Honey, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“I – I just – I –“ and Uhura suddenly let off a stream of words that Carol was struggling to understand. Some of them sound Spanish, but some were another language that Carol completely didn’t recognise.

“What did you just say?”

Uhura blinked, surprised, as if she just realised her mistake, “Oh, sor – sorry. I just slipped – when I get upset, I switch languages. Spanish and Swahili.” 

“Swahili?” Carol raised her eyebrows, no idea why she was surprised – Nyota Uhura was one of the best xenolinguistic officers in Starfleet, it shouldn’t be surprising that she wasn’t just good with alien languages, “I had no idea you were fluent.”

“My father’s a diplomat from the United States of Africa, the Bantu region.” Uhura smiled sadly as she began reminiscing, “He was the one who named me. Nyota. It means ‘star’. Kind of appropriate that I became a part of Starfleet.”

Carol opened up her drink, “And the Spanish, was that from your mother?”

“Yeah. She was Dominican. She moved to Africa after she met my father through work.” Uhura smiled, “Swahili was my first language, but I slip into Spanish more often because I spent more time with Mama.”

“It’s no wonder you became a xenolinguist.” Carol replied, mildly impressed.

“Yeah…” Uhura nodded, opening her drink and taking a drink of it.

“Nyota. Do you still love Spock?”

Uhura didn’t speak, she just nodded. Damn. These situations really suck. Carol took a big swig of her soda. She wished it was tequila.

“Look – I know what it’s like. One time, they’d fallen for someone else. Another time, we just… didn’t work anymore.” Carol shrugged, “It hurt like hell. But we moved on. Coz there is always someone or something better out there. I don’t know if this is what you need to hear, or even want to hear, but you know – this could be a blessing in disguise.”

Uhura looked at Carol, sceptical, “A blessing? A blessing that the last three years of my life were wasted?”

“Who says they were wasted? Your time with him changed you, it changed him – it made you stronger people. And what’s to say that you guys can’t just be friends? C’mon, Nyota. Listen to what you’re saying. You guys were friends before you were romantic. Doesn’t that count for something?”

Uhura didn’t met Carol’s eyes as she finished. Carol eyed her closely, “Is there something else, Nyota? Have you spoken to Spock about this?”

Uhura shook her head. She wasn’t sure what question she was answering – or maybe she was answering both. Carol looked away. God, she wasn’t good at this stuff. 

“Is it possible to be with someone out of spite?”

Carole furrowed her brow, confused, “What do you mean?”

“What – what if I’m just with Spock – because I don’t want someone else to have him?”

Someone else? Carol turned back just as tears streamed down Uhura’s face. Who else on the ship would –

Oh god. He didn’t, did he?

The memories of that Christmas party came back to her. The realisation must have shown on her face as Uhura looked at her, her eyes wide, and Carol just _knew_ she was right.

“Are we talking about Jim Kirk?”

Judging from the way Uhura gasped and her crying got just that little bit harder, they were.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed, this will still get edited, I just posted it in a rush.
> 
> Comment and kudos and stuff!


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